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BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey

17 Jul 03 - 02:38 AM (#984950)
Subject: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

G'day,

We've got into a heap of animal threads, and I see the Gnomes are roaming too. It seems a raft of Rubber Ducks are about to come ashore after a decade at sea. It's a welcome relief from B&B morning, noon, and night.

Cheers - Sam


17 Jul 03 - 03:47 AM (#984964)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Geoff the Duck

Every Duck is entitled to a holiday!!!!!!!
QUACK!
Geoff the Duck.


17 Jul 03 - 03:57 AM (#984967)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Liz the Squeak

There is a bloke somewhere whose job it is to track them so that they don't become a danger to shipping...

Wonder which one has the number 6 on its bottom and will win me a goldfish in a plastic bag?

LTS


17 Jul 03 - 04:00 PM (#985427)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Geoff the Duck

Danger to shipping?
What are rubber ducks going to do? Gang up and steal the soap from the bathroom?
QUACK!
GtD.


17 Jul 03 - 04:31 PM (#985445)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Jeri

If it didn't cost so darned much to park at the beach, I'd grab some binoculars and go on Duckie Watch.

You got no luck if you're a rubber duck,
Oh, the trials you'll undergo!
To Seattle bound, you ain't touched ground
Since China, long ago
In '92, from the deck you flew
Into the big bath they call the sea
And you're headed for some friendly shore,
But you won't make Old Maui...


17 Jul 03 - 04:40 PM (#985453)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: McGrath of Harlow

They went via the North Pole itself, I see from the maps in the paper. Not so much North West passage or North-East Passage - Due North Passage. Even Lord Franklin never tried that.

Through cruel hardship these ducks did go,
Through mountains high of ice they drove
Where the rubber ducks and the flip-flop shoe
Were the only ones who ever came through.


17 Jul 03 - 05:33 PM (#985487)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Liz the Squeak

On a radar screen they give an anomolous reading - they could be anything!

Rubber Ducky, you're the one, you make bath time lots of fun....

LTS


17 Jul 03 - 07:03 PM (#985545)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Herga Kitty

Liz

If it's got number 9 on its bottom, will it win an upside down goldfish?

K


17 Jul 03 - 07:33 PM (#985562)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Gareth

Geoff - Plastic Ducks in yor cooling water intake is baaaaad news.

Gareth


17 Jul 03 - 08:28 PM (#985594)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: McGrath of Harlow

I think there's a film in here somewhere. "Duckie Come Home"

Or perhaps even an Opera - "The Flying Duckman".

Or, of course, an epic novel and film, "Moby Duck".


17 Jul 03 - 08:57 PM (#985603)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: rangeroger

But what if a Giant Squid gets them? Will they be injected with spermatophores?

rr


18 Jul 03 - 04:43 AM (#985747)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Dave Bryant

I gather that besides yellow plastic ducks, the consignment included green frogs, blue turtles, and red beavers, but exposure to sea water and sun has tended to bleach them all out. They've been floating around for some time now and a few have even made it to NW Scotland.
One oceanographer has been using sitings of them to check on Atlantic current changes.


18 Jul 03 - 12:07 PM (#986003)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: fogie

Damn it two of them have got into my bath. Are they dangerous? How should one get rid of them? Are they a harbinger of giant squids, Maybe I've misread this thread? Shall I make a move and leave the water?


18 Jul 03 - 12:11 PM (#986005)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: GUEST,MMario

remember to move smoothly with little to no splashing. If you splash - it attracts their attention and they might attack (especially the red beavers).


18 Jul 03 - 06:43 PM (#986266)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Charley Noble

What an odessey!

Charley Noble


18 Jul 03 - 06:52 PM (#986279)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Bill D

oh, my...I wonder how many sharks or seabirds got a BIG surprise, thinking they had an easy snack!


18 Jul 03 - 07:09 PM (#986295)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Little Hawk

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

This is a great story. It has both heroic and comic overtones. We need more stories like this. As Geoff said: "QUACK!!!"

One worrisome thought...what if these rubber ducks are actually the WMD's that Saddam was accused of hiding? It could be a stealthy long range attack on America that Iraq set into motion way back in 1992 (just after the Gulf War!). Scary, scary... (twilight zone music)


18 Jul 03 - 10:37 PM (#986374)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Rapparee

Obviously Weapons of Mass Duckstruction!


19 Jul 03 - 12:32 AM (#986401)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

It appears these Ducky WMD's are Worth Many Dollars. Avon, Massachusetts-based The First Years Inc - the original importers, are offering a $100 US Savings Bond for verified recovery of the bouncy bundles of quack - so get to the beach quack.

Cheers - Sam


19 Jul 03 - 03:08 AM (#986428)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Liz the Squeak

Mine's the one with the number 6 on it's bottom, I claim my goldfish!!!

Is that $100 each ducky or do beavers fetch a different price?

LTS


19 Jul 03 - 03:18 AM (#986432)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

Couldn't work out the price differential, Liz, you'll have to beaver it out youself - Sam


19 Jul 03 - 04:01 AM (#986441)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: fogie

Brrr! the waters gone cold and my skin's all white and ridged, I've got them hemmed in by the plughole with a loofah. If I can just reach the plug chain with the back scrubber. Oh no- there's a fish with a clockwork tail swimming under the barrier..... AAAAGGGHHH!!!


19 Jul 03 - 11:31 AM (#986576)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: John MacKenzie

Red is my favourite colour for a beaver.


19 Jul 03 - 02:03 PM (#986624)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Little Hawk

I wondered when someone would jump on that...


19 Jul 03 - 02:13 PM (#986633)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Stilly River Sage

It really is a fascinating story. Robert Segal interviewed an oceanographer who has been tracking the flotilla.

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1323675 will take you to the NPR page and you can listen to the interview.

My favorite Sesame Street song is "Put Down the Duckie (if you want to play the saxophone)."

SRS


19 Jul 03 - 02:29 PM (#986641)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: MudGuard

Could someone please explain to a non-native-English-speaking person what WMD is?
Thanks in advance!

Geoff, remembering your beer mug - have you been at sea when the container dropped off that ship?

Andy/MudGuard


19 Jul 03 - 04:21 PM (#986685)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Stilly River Sage

Weapons of Mass Destruction


19 Jul 03 - 04:41 PM (#986692)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: MudGuard

Thank you!


19 Jul 03 - 06:33 PM (#986713)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Little Hawk

Or...Warlike Mass of Ducks (bearing down on the coast of Maine as we speak!)


20 Jul 03 - 04:58 PM (#987147)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: John MacKenzie

Ducks Maine lining, that's why they're looking down in the mouth.


21 Jul 03 - 04:36 AM (#987301)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Dave Bryant

Liz, it all depemds on whose beaver it is. I'm perfectly willing to inspect any beaver and perform a valuation for free.


21 Jul 03 - 03:24 PM (#987627)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Walking Eagle

Sing Jeri's song to Rubber Duckie ( Earnie's song of praise to his bath time duckie on Sesame Street ).


21 Jul 03 - 03:33 PM (#987637)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Chief Chaos

I'd love to get my hands on one of the little ducks. It would make a great addition to my toy collection. What a story! Unfortunately with a bounty on their little rubber heads I won't be able to get one. Any 'Catters from the area willing to help me out?


21 Jul 03 - 06:51 PM (#987733)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Liz the Squeak

Just keep checking Ebay - one is bound to turn up there sometime - they'd sell poop if they could get a decent picture of it.

LTS


22 Jul 03 - 12:26 AM (#987881)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Little Hawk

Got that right, Liz. One guy sold his soul on Ebay, neatly packaged in a sealed glass bottle, with a signed certificate of authenticity. I'm not sure who bought it...or why. But it did sell. It just looked like an empty glass bottle to me, but you have to ask yourself...would the guy lie about something like that? :-) And don't forget, he included the signed certificate!

A rubber duckie should be fairly easy to find, I would think.

- LH


23 Jul 03 - 10:00 AM (#988765)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: GUEST

worked for the Emperor!


23 Jul 03 - 12:07 PM (#988871)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

G'day Folks,

Anyone caught up with what's happening? Have any landed yet? I've just done a Google News search, and can't find anything more recent than 16 July. However, I found a good report from abc News that I missed earlier.

Cheers - Sam


24 Jul 03 - 12:05 AM (#989334)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: LadyJean

Oh you lucky duck!


26 Jul 03 - 10:22 AM (#991066)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Helen

ABC Online

Saturday, July 26, 2003. 1:51pm (AEST)

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s910822.htm]

AEST
Rubber ducks spotted floating in the Pacific

An armada of toy ducks is expected to make landfall in Britain within weeks, at the end of an epic 11 year voyage from the Pacific Ocean.

The little yellow ducks were washed overboard from a container ship in 1992.

They have since floated round the United States, through the Arctic and past Greenland.

The remnants of the fading flotilla are now heading down the eastern seaboard of the United States, although a break away group has been spotted heading for Britain.

The American company that made the ducks is offering money to anyone finding them onshore in the US, though the offer is not being made to any British duck finders.


© 2003 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Copyright information: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm
Privacy information: http://abc.net.au/privacy.htm

Helen


26 Jul 03 - 02:37 PM (#991156)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: McGrath of Harlow

In that link Billy the Bus gave there's a map showing "the North Pacific Gyre", a term which I think sounds much scarier than the Bermuda Triangle.


26 Jul 03 - 07:35 PM (#991229)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: kendall

Once in the middle of the Atlantic, I threw a plastic bottle overboard, and a few months later, I got a note from someone in the Shetland Islands. Often wished I had kept in touch with him.

Another time, I threw a cheap guitar overboard without a note. Didn't want to hear from that again.


27 Jul 03 - 12:57 AM (#991332)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

The ducks did gyre and gambol in the waves...


27 Jul 03 - 02:31 AM (#991354)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

Here's a link to a message in a bottle found in Sweden the other day - 60 years after being sent. It wasn't as adventurous as the duckis, as it only travelled 92 miles.

Cheers - Sam


27 Jul 03 - 04:34 AM (#991373)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Billy the Bus

Oh dear, there I was checking out Pub Games, when I found a rubber duck with attitude, called Rub My Ducky I wonder if they would keep their buzz after 10 years in the tide?

Cheers - Sam


27 Jul 03 - 09:05 AM (#991419)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Joe_F

ObSongs: "Old Beer Bottle" (in the DT), ttto "Sing a Song of Cities".


27 Jul 03 - 10:48 AM (#991438)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: John MacKenzie

Where are Laurie Lingo and the Dipsticks when you need them?
Not to mention the 16 long haired friends of Jesus, in a VW Microbus.
This here's a rubber duck, 10-4 good buddy.
Giok


03 Nov 03 - 05:27 PM (#1047092)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Jeri

Every now and then something strikes me in a really strange way. (No, not like a submarine plummeting from the heavens to bounce off my head.) Have you ever cried and laughed at the same time? All the changes in our lives, all the things that have happened both good and bad, all the tears, all the laughter, all the people who've touched our lives, the hellos and the goodbyes, the ebb and flow of tides, the migration of geese, meteors showers, Mars and sunspots...AND I NEVER HEARD WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DAMNED DUCKS!!!


03 Nov 03 - 06:09 PM (#1047118)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: wysiwyg

And I had never heard OF the ducks, till this! Where the f**k Have I BEEN?????? (Rehabbing my bod, really eats the clock and the brain cells).

~S~


03 Nov 03 - 09:02 PM (#1047263)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: Cluin

A likely story! Sounds like a plot for smuggling in illegal aliens to me! Probably even *GASP* TERRORISTS!

Blow `em all outta the water just to be safe. Have the spin doctors and CIA cover it up later.


03 Nov 03 - 09:49 PM (#1047307)
Subject: RE: BS: Rubber Duckies' Odyssey
From: wysiwyg

No, don't blow them up, they're toxic! (Search Google, you'll see!)

~S~