R.I.P Shrek The Sheep!

Shrek the New Zealand sheep, whose ability to avoid the shearers made him a national celebrity, has died.

Shrek came to prominence in 2004 after evading capture for six years by hiding in caves on the South Island.

The cunning Merino lost his giant 27kg (60lb) fleece in a televised shearing.

The 16-year-old sheep had a high-profile career. He met then Prime Minister Helen Clark, became the subject of several children's books and made regular charity appearances.

"Shrek's owner, John Perriam, of Bendigo Hill station, said the famous sheep had to be put down over the weekend because of age-related illnesses.

"He was just an ordinary sheep, went awol and hid, and when he was found he became the darling of the nation," Mr Perriam told local broadcaster TVNZ.

"He had an unbelievable personality. He loved children and he was really good with the elderly in retirement homes."

Shrek's giant fleece - enough to make 20 large men's suits - was auctioned off in 2004 for children's medical charities.

Josie Spillane of Cure Kids said over the years Shrek had raised more than $150,000 (£75,000) for the charity, which funded research into life-threatening illnesses.

"At the end of the day, it is the death of an iconic Kiwi. He just happens to be a sheep," she told the Southland Times.

Local reports said a memorial service would be held for Shrek at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo, and that his owner planned to place a bronze statue of the sheep in the local town.

Mr Perriam said that Shrek's legacy would continue."

While driving through New Zealand, Steven and I ended up in a teeny tiny small town claiming to be the home of "shrek the sheep". We walked through a little museum in a house, dedicated to Shrek, flipped through books about him, and it was clear that we were the only people who didnt know who he was.

My favorite fact about Shrek was that they flew this goddamn sheep onto a mammoth ICEBERG, in order to give his shearing the drama it deserved.

This really happened.

I love the kiwis. 

Californias Prison Overcrowding

A Mother Jones photo essay on California’s overcrowded prison problem (click for more)

Deep Impact.

japanese nuclear meltdown....is this really happening? The news is like a bad disaster movie right now.

Im always a sucker for grocery store footage

This Sort Of Shit Makes Me Nervous.

Authorities in Redondo Beach are investigating what killed millions of fish over the last day at King Harbor Marina.

Fish, including anchovies, sardines and mackerel were floating lifeless in Basins 1 and 2 of the north side of King Harbor Marina.

"There’s basically fish everywhere you go in the harbor," said the harbor's assistant manager, Jason McMullin, who added that there were reports that a red tide may have driven the fish into the harbor in massive numbers where they died because of limited oxygen.

Redondo Beach public works officials were dispatched to the harbor to investigate further but did not have immediate comment.

Redondo Beach officials said initial assessments suggest oxygen depletion in the King Harbor basins caused the massive fish die-off.

City Manager Bill Workman said city officials with the help of marine experts would help determine if there was any environmental issue involved. Tests are now being performed on the water as officials begin removing the dead fish, which city officials estimated to be in the millions.

“There are no visible signs of any toxins that might have caused [the die-off] and our early assessment is that this was oxygen depletion,” Workman said. “This is similar to what we experienced five years ago but that was distinctly a red tide event but there’s no discoloration of the water, no associated foaming in the waves, Workman said. “There are no oil slicks or leaking of substances into the water.”

Workman noted that the harbor had been teeming in recent weeks with bait fish that even after their deaths “had no signs of degradation.”