Stumbled across one of your channels about a week ago and have been binge watching all of them ever since!! As a history freak & being insatiably curious, I can't get enough of the information you give us! Keep it up , Simon , I love the sound of your voice, & at 71, there isn't much else to do in the age of COVID 19 when I only go out when it's absolutely necessary & unavoidable!!
As someone who's been fortunate enough to visit and explore the Waitomo Caves, it really is a magical place. When I was there 7 years ago, there were two tour operators: The main one has a huge facility and is your typical tourist attraction vibe. The other, which I think was called "spellbound" was a much smaller and personable experience. We were in NZ right at the start of the Holidays and I'll never forget the experiences of being about 100a ft underground, with my friends (Were from he US) and the rest of the group who was from the UK, France, Begium, and Brazil. Singing Christmas Carols with the sparkling Glow worms as our only light. It was magical.
Nice to see the Causeway included here. Incidentally if you come to visit it, don't park in the National Trust car park, it costs a fortune. You can park for free anywhere nearby and access to the Causeway is free on foot. The price of the National Trust car park has been quite the bone of contention locally. Just letting you know.
Simon could do a side projects on 'how many YT channels do I narrate for?' Or is that a mega projects? I keep discovering new ones. Keep up the talking!
Rod Sprague While I am not a big advocate of trying to build a universal Communist culture at gunpoint, we do need to restore monuments to our low points in history.
Hello from Prague, I know that communist dictatorship was terrible, but I definitelly didnt like how the commentator found it laughable. Without socialism not even Britain would have things like social insurance, vacation or public healthcare, and world would ve run by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, who pay minimum wage to their workers and then fly to space. People who have lived in 20s and 30s, whos parents remembered q9s century wild capitalusm, had full right to beleive in communism. Many people beleiced it sincerely and did a lot of good.
@@rodsprague369 let's build monuments right now then, so we remember how we lost 2+ million inhabitants in less than 30 years while the mafia runs loose
Simon, Salvation Mountain was built from HAY and paint. Yes donated statues, auto parts, pictures, etc are with the rooms and area, the bulk of it is hay and paint, dead tree branches are used on some of the supporting arches. I personally spoke with Leonard and we asked about cement abd bricks and he said no, only hay and paint.
Yup got Waitomo pronunciation right and yes the "crickets' are terrifying and called Wetas. I believe the Moari used them as stitches. Great work Simon.
@@DarkFire1536 Dont get me started on wētā, they have a large and diverse family tree, you have the tree wētā which is most common to me living in the north island and are scattered everywhere (often inopportune places such as shoes), then the type you will find in waitomo are the cave wētā which have giant oversized and spindly legs, then you have the incredible and terrifying giant wētās, among other genus of weta each with many species. NZ has some great examples of Island gigantism my favourite of which being the giant snail which weighs 6 times as much as the typical garden snail and has a shell measuring 9cm across and is among the biggest in the world, sadly I have only found the shells and have yet to see one of these behemoths alive.
In the Catacombs, I think it’s a lovely testament to the deceased that their bones were turned into beautiful (if a bit macabre) designs and architecture. Instead of piles of bones, their remains have been turned into monuments.
Wow, I didn't expect to see Slab City on this. I loved to take visitors to Slab City and Salvation Mountain when I lived in Palm Springs. Just so unique. FWI, just down the road to the south banks of the Salton Sea are the mud pots of the San Andreas fault.
Have driven past turnoffs that would lead to the area on both the 8 & 10 multiple times. On my next excursion that way I'll be sure to give it some time.
Waitomo is amazing, went there several years ago and still vividly remember it, highly recommend... while you’re in New Zealand, Milford Sound is another great place
I've been there, it was amazing, till one dickhead who didn't know or care about the no flash photography signs, took a photo, destroying everyone's night vision, there's always one.
as a NZ resident, definatly check the caves out... it's like looking up at the night sky with no light poloution... and yes sadly Brian, there is almost always that one...
You know, after watching the Colossus episode I wouldn't mind seeing an episode on the largest statues (still standing) in the World, or maybe even of all time.
Wow, I had no idea that GTA V took inspiration from slab city and put it towards the alien camp in their game. You can definitely see the influence just from looking at the two
Predatory glow worms are also found in caves in south eastern Kentucky. Just Google "glow worms in eastern Kentucky caves" and you'll find many articles and research papers on them.
Alright colour me confused. I thought I was binge watching Simon's channel which I found this evening ... Until I noticed the recommended videos are from a wide array of channels . Is this man the UA-cam king ? :P
You could do an entire episode on abandoned Soviet monuments! There are several others abd they're all strange structures. I've been fascinated with them for years.
I went there back in 2015 with my sister and I've been trying to convince my fiance to go back for 2 years. Only problem is it's 20 hours away in the middle of nowhere
@Jennifer Taylor While that may be true, and it is also true that Rome did the very same thing, but actually lost the battle against the north and ended up falling, nevertheless the basalt formations are not in fact man-made. No amount of horrible history will change that.
Saw a video about Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. It is a strange place. Although it is a typical modest sized plot of land in terms of value, at least two billionaires have owned it as a pet project of study of the paranormal. Despite zero proof and hard evidence, with basically just witness experiences, it's hard to dismiss the interest. Billionaires who know nothing about ranching, let alone not owning a pair of jeans, want this otherwise unpectacular rural real estate.
I'm enjoying "Side Projects", because I've always sought out the weird & the unexplained. I think 'the body on the reservoir' might be weird enough to cover here, Simon!
That first one is a great example of Brutalism architecture which is hated by many (not I) but actually making a comeback. You could do an entire episode of the Spomenik that were built in the old Yugoslavia. there are over a hundred of them. If one of them cost 30 million I would say that the entirety of the all of them built could be a mega project.
As if the Paris Catacombs weren't weird enough, you've got the added weirdness factor that Walt Disney originally wanted a Paris Catacomb themed tunnel to link the Haunted House to the Pirates of the Caribbean. He died before he could make anybody do it, though. All that remains of the plan is a bricked over arch that would have led into the tunnel.
For 66+ years, I've heard so many mind buggeringly ridiculous things that people believe. People that see themselves as perfectly rational, normal, individuals, "that are nobody's fool..." And then you regularly present oddities, and some of the even more ridiculous stories attached to them... and, Surprise! I'm now convinced that I'll go to my grave, knowing that the extent of human stew-pid-it-tee --- has only begun to be explored. No horizon in sight. 😢
Those glow worms can be seen and visited in person, in a number of well known tourist locations in Australia. I live in the eastern state of New South Wales, in the city of Sydney, and I know that our state has two or three sites. I have visited one in person. Large colonies congregate in caves and tunnels, due to the humidity, coolness, and relative stable temperature from winter to summer, compared to being outside. The site I have visited is an old abandoned small-gauge rail tunnel cut through sandstone mountains, out near one of the old unpopulated mining towns, called Newnes. To find it online, you like will need to search for glow worms and “Lithgow”, which is the nearest large inhabited town in that area. This is a famous area, a couple hours drive west of Sydney, called the Blue Mountains, which are part of a huge range called the great dividing range. I believe another site is an abandoned mine, south of Sydney, possibly near Kiama however I can’t be bothered searching to double check right now.
Those cool basalt formations are also in the Appalachian Range in the state of Maine in America, across the Atlantic but the same geologic formation. This is from back when the two continents were attached, before the ocean was there. Pretty neat.
Hey Simon, you mentioned 'snow-birds' and showed Slab City (I think) in this video. It reminded me of film... if you haven't already seen it, check out the documentary, _Anerican Nomads,_ written, presented and narrated by journalist and feature writer, Richard Grant (NOT Richard _E._ Grant!). It's such an evocative film, with a sparse, yet outstanding soundtrack. It's awesome. Basically.
13:21 I remember this story from a “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks” episode. The fact I remember it in as good a detail as I do surprises me, and I thank you for reminding me of these childhood memories.
@SideProjects In western France Karnak(Carnac), while working an engineering project in France I saw what amazed me, it looked like 5 giants had a race to stack on their ends thousands of massive stones(The Carnac alignments). I have yet to understand why ordinary size humans would go to such colossal effort to approximately align massive stones, especially since they appear to come from quarries so far away. Please do a segment on this amazing location(or tell me did you cover it elsewhere else) SideProjects
My brother's room is a strange place indeed. Things get burried in the Cheetos dust and animie magazines scientists can't explain where the missing items (keys, ect) went but they never resurface and never to be found again.
If you do another video you could feature the Catatumbo everlasting lightning storm at Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela with over a million lightning bolts a year.
3:42 A necromancer's wet dream I imagine. 6M potential soldiers for his undead army if he resurrected them all at once. Someone needs to make a movie based on that.
the amount of energy/sacrifice to accomplish such a feat would be massive. The reason necromancers like to hang out in crypts, is because there are so many dead bodies, they can summon them one at a time, and rest as needed instead of needing to overly exert themselves. Once you reach a critical mass, you unleash your horde and then summon a large quantity to replace them, for defence, as you rest until you're ready to summon again. summoning the undead is taxing work myfriend. one must be thoughtful and plan ahead if one it to succeed in dominating the world of the dead.
Herein the rub; if each of your soldiers requires their own unique set of original bones, there's going to be a _lot_ of pushing and shoving and waiting...
The Thulean plateau is of course the setting for the cover art of Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy". "Fingal's Cave" is the title of one of the many unused recordings created during Pink Floyd's sessions for the soundtrack for Antonioni's 1970 movie "Zabriskie Point". Death Valley and its Zabriskie Point are themselves mighty strange places.
Good day Simon. How you doing? Massive NZ fan here. Those caves are pronounced ‘why-toe-mow’ You did well! Ps: been there... You “can’t” see the worms, but you can see their work. Recommend a visit. 100%
so lame. humanity has so much more to its legacy in the 21st century than some a virus with 99% survivability rate. i know it's a joke comment but some wouldn't think so.
@@patrickmccurry1563 Exactly. It's called "Covid 19" because it debuted in 2019 (not because there were 18 previous Covids as twits like Ted Nugent believe) so 2019 would be Year 1 of the Covidian Calendar. There was no "Year Zero" in the Gregorian calendar so the Covidian calendar might as well follow suit. Which means we're currently living in 2AV (After Virus or Anno Viridae, either works)
My Grandmother told me a story about a tour she was on as a girl. The tour guide was a bit drunk and was pointing out stalactites and stalagmites when someone ask what are they call when they come together. He comes back with "mighty tight." I have always like that story and it's what I call them in my head.
I would like to know the long term side effects of all the nuclear weapon tests that have gone on since the 40's. I'm sure all the radiation hasn't been good for the environment or our health.
You're marked. So am I. It's in our bones. Millennia from now, when our corpses are excavated, scientists will say "You see these isotopes? This one lived in the Nuclear Age!" 😉 (Probably not any actual medical effects nowadays though, unless you were there.)
@@Russo-Delenda-Est Indeed. I'd speculate that I have a high probability of increased radiation "influence" within me seeing that I was born in the southern Nevada desert during the mid 70's... just after the desert testings ended.
Can you do an episode about ADE? It’s the biggest (dance) festival in the world held every year in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Dance Event is a week long electronic music festival with over 100 events and like a million visitors.
That'd be incredible to attend. I've been to events such as EDC and MM, and those were pretty sizable in there own rights, both being held in Southern California. However, I can't say that either has ever reached over a million visitors, but it has been a while since I last attended one. Fyi EDC = Electronic Daisy Carnival and MM = Monster Massive.
@@skyden24195 just did a little search and my milion estimate was a bit to large. Still 400k visitors to about 2000 events in about a week. Biggest events are in the Amsterdam Arena with about 30k visitors and DJs like Martin Garrix, Davis Guetta, Tiësto etc. It’s pretty awesome.
If you have been to Alron Towers in the UK and been on the ride Hex. It starts off with a story about Rich nobleman who was cursed by an elderly woman that if a branch should ever fall from a certain, death shall fall upon his family. Then one night it was struck by lightning and a branch broke off. Sure enough a family member died. The nobleman then had the tree bound in chains to prevent further branches falling. Off. Some of the story told on this ride is true.. in the wood surrounding the village is a tree with a broken branch and is bound in chains from the either the 18th or 19th century. You should do a video on the true story of the Chained tree in the village of Alton
I'd love a video on the Bismarck battleship. I know you've done the Yamato and several aircraft carriers before, but the Bismarck was such a behemoth of German engineering (for better & for worse)
Manitou Beach, SK. In the middle of the North American continent and not connected to any other bodies of water yet it’s a salt water lake as salty as the Dead Sea and you don’t have to worry about knowing how to swim because the water is so buoyant that you just float on the surface.
You almost got the pronunciation right! The giant crickets you’re referring too are probably weta. One of the largest insects in the world. Totally harmless, but terrifying haha pronunciation would be “Wai” pronounced “why”, and “to” with the “o” pronounced as in “off” short sound. Same with “mo” wai to mo. If the vowel has a macron as in ō it’s a long vowel sound and pronounced more like “oh”. But I’m far from knowing anything at all about Te Reo 😢
Suggestion: Chicano Park, San Diego, California. Once the proposed site for a police substation, the community in that neighborhood got together and created a beautiful park, a safe place for children and their families. These days Chicano Park hosts many cultural events throughout the year, all reflecting the Hispanic culture and history of that area.
I got one that's pretty interesting I believe there's a place in Mexico where there's an underground cave full of Giant Crystals that looks a lot like Superman Fortress of Solitude.
That would be a good "Sideprojects" as opposed to, say, the parachute. Funny enough, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Cradle of Life," which is (as of this posting) available on UA-cam movies, and I repeatedly keep watching, features our hero and her companion using said suits to escape baddies.
Next time you do a weird/random structures video try to throw the Foam Henge in Virginia,USA. It's pretty funny, replica of Stone Henge...just made of giant blocks of foam and in the middle of nowhere
Honestly really bloody close Waitomo is pronounced whytomo the a is silent but definatly the best pronunciation of a NZ name that I have heard on UA-cam I do applaude you Simon Māori place names aren't easy to pronounce especially for some outside of the country
New Zealander here: Your pronunciation of 'Waitomo' is close enough. You pronounce it with a higher pitch 'o' sound vs. the correct Maori pronunciation but apart from that it's fine. It's 3 syllables like you pronounced it so good job Simon!
Simon did the same thing in another video recently, saying he wasn't sure how to pronounce Woomera. As an experiment, it took me all of about 1 minute to find some old Aussie newsreel on UA-cam where the name was spoken by locals. Sadly, Simon opted to wing it with "Woo-MARE-uh" on that occasion, which wasn't such a good job! It tickles me that he's one of the most prolific UA-camrs out there but doesn't seem to think of using UA-cam as a resource for help with pronouncing those tricky placenames :)
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
You got the pronunciation right for Waitomo Caves 👌they’re a great tourist attraction-you should go sometime. It’s a beautiful area of the world. Born in Blighty UK 🇬🇧 I live in New Zealand 🇳🇿 now 👌
Is it just me or don't the reasons for the catacombs of Paris sound pretty illogical? Like I've never thought of France as one of the countries in the world that have a very limited amount of free space left to work with and what kind of public health issues could possibly be linked to traditions where they're burying the dead in graveyards? Luckily I don't know a ton about the subject of how the dead affect the living so I don't think I'm being too unfair questioning people in the past with limited available knowledge, so... Spontaneously it doesn't sound like collecting dead bodies from all over the country to then place them in a huge underground maze below the highly populated capital would have a overall posetive impact on people's health if there were reasons to believe traditional burial grounds were problematic somehow. Is there someone here who could shine some light on why this decision made any sense to anybody? I mean it wasn't exactly effortless either so they probably thought there were plenty of motivation to get it done and not just on a whim.
Stumbled across one of your channels about a week ago and have been binge watching all of them ever since!! As a history freak & being insatiably curious, I can't get enough of the information you give us! Keep it up , Simon , I love the sound of your voice, & at 71, there isn't much else to do in the age of COVID 19 when I only go out when it's absolutely necessary & unavoidable!!
Fascinating eggskull yes?
Same one year later
As someone who's been fortunate enough to visit and explore the Waitomo Caves, it really is a magical place. When I was there 7 years ago, there were two tour operators: The main one has a huge facility and is your typical tourist attraction vibe. The other, which I think was called "spellbound" was a much smaller and personable experience. We were in NZ right at the start of the Holidays and I'll never forget the experiences of being about 100a ft underground, with my friends (Were from he US) and the rest of the group who was from the UK, France, Begium, and Brazil. Singing Christmas Carols with the sparkling Glow worms as our only light. It was magical.
I've been to Waitomo as well. A magical experience, indeed.
I live in Auckland, never been, lol.
Nice to see the Causeway included here. Incidentally if you come to visit it, don't park in the National Trust car park, it costs a fortune. You can park for free anywhere nearby and access to the Causeway is free on foot. The price of the National Trust car park has been quite the bone of contention locally. Just letting you know.
Are there other places you can park without blocking roads?
Also it is not in the uk
@@adamsandles8103 Sorry it is in the UK.
Simon could do a side projects on 'how many YT channels do I narrate for?'
Or is that a mega projects?
I keep discovering new ones. Keep up the talking!
He lists all of them if you click around on "description", "more..." and so on
#6 - The basement that Simon keeps Danny in
Allegedly
According to some people's opinion.
I got a "❤️" . This is the proudest moment of my life!
This the proudest moment of my life! Simping for Simon!
Nah, it's just a regular sex dungeon.
The Buzludzha monument is really stunning in person and I hope the rennovation gets completed soon. Greetings from Bulgaria
Rod Sprague
While I am not a big advocate of trying to build a universal Communist culture at gunpoint, we do need to restore monuments to our low points in history.
Hello from Prague, I know that communist dictatorship was terrible, but I definitelly didnt like how the commentator found it laughable. Without socialism not even Britain would have things like social insurance, vacation or public healthcare, and world would ve run by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, who pay minimum wage to their workers and then fly to space. People who have lived in 20s and 30s, whos parents remembered q9s century wild capitalusm, had full right to beleive in communism. Many people beleiced it sincerely and did a lot of good.
Дано стане
@@rodsprague369 let's build monuments right now then, so we remember how we lost 2+ million inhabitants in less than 30 years while the mafia runs loose
We did build one for the Viet Nam War.
Discovery channel, "Must be aliens"
Simon, "They are wrong."
*I'm not saying it was aliens...
because it wasn't.
"Ancient alien theorists say yes!"
Simon, Salvation Mountain was built from HAY and paint. Yes donated statues, auto parts, pictures, etc are with the rooms and area, the bulk of it is hay and paint, dead tree branches are used on some of the supporting arches. I personally spoke with Leonard and we asked about cement abd bricks and he said no, only hay and paint.
yep, I was down there a few years ago and a big storm had washed a portion away, leaving wet hay and a lot of dejected faces.
Yup got Waitomo pronunciation right and yes the "crickets' are terrifying and called Wetas. I believe the Moari used them as stitches. Great work Simon.
Just Googled Wetas. Omg!
@@DarkFire1536 Dont get me started on wētā, they have a large and diverse family tree, you have the tree wētā which is most common to me living in the north island and are scattered everywhere (often inopportune places such as shoes), then the type you will find in waitomo are the cave wētā which have giant oversized and spindly legs, then you have the incredible and terrifying giant wētās, among other genus of weta each with many species. NZ has some great examples of Island gigantism my favourite of which being the giant snail which weighs 6 times as much as the typical garden snail and has a shell measuring 9cm across and is among the biggest in the world, sadly I have only found the shells and have yet to see one of these behemoths alive.
Maori
“Way-tomo” is not how it’s said. It’s “why-taw-maw”.
Ima have to use that unbelievably assured Simon style
" they are wrong" 😂
In the Catacombs, I think it’s a lovely testament to the deceased that their bones were turned into beautiful (if a bit macabre) designs and architecture. Instead of piles of bones, their remains have been turned into monuments.
Definitely agree. They turned mass-graves into a beautiful display.
We still have this problem in Europe. Where I live bones are still pushed into a death pit once the lease of the plot is up.
Been to Waitomo caves in Feb last year, quite amazing. The glow worm 'fishing lines' tend to drip on you as you float along in a boat.
"Some people still claim it is man made, they are wrong."
Well of course they are Simon, you just told us it was giants.
highly underrated comment
Wow, I didn't expect to see Slab City on this. I loved to take visitors to Slab City and Salvation Mountain when I lived in Palm Springs. Just so unique. FWI, just down the road to the south banks of the Salton Sea are the mud pots of the San Andreas fault.
Yes, Gary, awesome area. We go to the mud pots often. 😊
Have driven past turnoffs that would lead to the area on both the 8 & 10 multiple times. On my next excursion that way I'll be sure to give it some time.
The monument in Shumen (Bulgaria) was pretty interesting looking too. Looks a little better preserved too.
Touring the Catacombs in Paris was awesome. I highly recommend it, especially if you find yourself in Paris and aren't into art.
Zhat iz where Shief Inspector Dreyfus wanted to put Clouseau
I was there in 1989
Don't forget to leave an offering on Jim Morrison's grave (above ground).
@@WindTurbineSyndrome 94 for me
Waitomo is amazing, went there several years ago and still vividly remember it, highly recommend... while you’re in New Zealand, Milford Sound is another great place
Traveled there in in 1999 was very cool!
Yay Waitomo!
The 'Wai' in Waitomo could be said like 'why'. Really appreciate your attention to pronunciation. :)
well you clearly havent seen him Blazeee did you? :D
I've been there, it was amazing, till one dickhead who didn't know or care about the no flash photography signs, took a photo, destroying everyone's night vision, there's always one.
Your right wai is water and tomo is hole in the ground I live not far from them 👍 wonderful place to visit
@@bjw4859 ha ha yes there's always some clot like that 🤔I'm glad you enjoyed the experience 👍
as a NZ resident, definatly check the caves out... it's like looking up at the night sky with no light poloution...
and yes sadly Brian, there is almost always that one...
You know, after watching the Colossus episode I wouldn't mind seeing an episode on the largest statues (still standing) in the World, or maybe even of all time.
Wow, I had no idea that GTA V took inspiration from slab city and put it towards the alien camp in their game. You can definitely see the influence just from looking at the two
Weird to see Buzludza. I was there in 2019. It is really impressive and should be preserved.
Да
Predatory glow worms are also found in caves in south eastern Kentucky. Just Google "glow worms in eastern Kentucky caves" and you'll find many articles and research papers on them.
I Google "predatory glow worms in Kentucky" but all that came up was Mitch McConnell
Alright colour me confused. I thought I was binge watching Simon's channel which I found this evening ... Until I noticed the recommended videos are from a wide array of channels . Is this man the UA-cam king ? :P
You could do an entire episode on abandoned Soviet monuments! There are several others abd they're all strange structures. I've been fascinated with them for years.
I'm gonna suggest House on the Rock again. Weird doesn't even begin to describe it...
Even Neil Gaiman wrote about it. Rock on, yo!
I went there back in 2015 with my sister and I've been trying to convince my fiance to go back for 2 years. Only problem is it's 20 hours away in the middle of nowhere
@@zackmadden132 I’m a quick hour and fifteen minutes away. Try to go every year, buts it’s been a couple now.
I love that place!
@@billolsen4360 my absolute favorite roadside attraction. Just bonkers.
Simon, how about St Patrick's Well in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy? It's a double helix dug in the mid 16th century.
Double helix dug in 16th Century! How much does it resemble DNA?
I love Simon. "Some naysayers insist they were man made, - they're wrong" Tell em how it is Si.
@Jennifer Taylor While that may be true, and it is also true that Rome did the very same thing, but actually lost the battle against the north and ended up falling, nevertheless the basalt formations are not in fact man-made. No amount of horrible history will change that.
@Jennifer Taylor Two wrongs.
@@Inertia888 Wrong
Great video!
We have glow worms at a place called Dismals Canyon in Phil Cambell, AL, USA. The species there is unique to that location.
Saw a video about Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. It is a strange place. Although it is a typical modest sized plot of land in terms of value, at least two billionaires have owned it as a pet project of study of the paranormal. Despite zero proof and hard evidence, with basically just witness experiences, it's hard to dismiss the interest. Billionaires who know nothing about ranching, let alone not owning a pair of jeans, want this otherwise unpectacular rural real estate.
I'm enjoying "Side Projects", because I've always sought out the weird & the unexplained.
I think 'the body on the reservoir' might be weird enough to cover here, Simon!
That first one is a great example of Brutalism architecture which is hated by many (not I) but actually making a comeback. You could do an entire episode of the Spomenik that were built in the old Yugoslavia. there are over a hundred of them. If one of them cost 30 million I would say that the entirety of the all of them built could be a mega project.
As if the Paris Catacombs weren't weird enough, you've got the added weirdness factor that Walt Disney originally wanted a Paris Catacomb themed tunnel to link the Haunted House to the Pirates of the Caribbean. He died before he could make anybody do it, though. All that remains of the plan is a bricked over arch that would have led into the tunnel.
For 66+ years, I've heard so many mind buggeringly ridiculous things that people believe. People that see themselves as perfectly rational, normal, individuals, "that are nobody's fool..." And then you regularly present oddities, and some of the even more ridiculous stories attached to them... and, Surprise! I'm now convinced that I'll go to my grave, knowing that the extent of human stew-pid-it-tee --- has only begun to be explored. No horizon in sight. 😢
Those glow worms can be seen and visited in person, in a number of well known tourist locations in Australia.
I live in the eastern state of New South Wales, in the city of Sydney, and I know that our state has two or three sites. I have visited one in person.
Large colonies congregate in caves and tunnels, due to the humidity, coolness, and relative stable temperature from winter to summer, compared to being outside.
The site I have visited is an old abandoned small-gauge rail tunnel cut through sandstone mountains, out near one of the old unpopulated mining towns, called Newnes.
To find it online, you like will need to search for glow worms and “Lithgow”, which is the nearest large inhabited town in that area.
This is a famous area, a couple hours drive west of Sydney, called the Blue Mountains, which are part of a huge range called the great dividing range.
I believe another site is an abandoned mine, south of Sydney, possibly near Kiama however I can’t be bothered searching to double check right now.
Croydon is often a strange place
Watch the movie The Gentlemen
Especially after midnight
Richard, I work there. In the town centre. Violent place.
Those cool basalt formations are also in the Appalachian Range in the state of Maine in America, across the Atlantic but the same geologic formation. This is from back when the two continents were attached, before the ocean was there. Pretty neat.
Hey Simon, you mentioned 'snow-birds' and showed Slab City (I think) in this video. It reminded me of film... if you haven't already seen it, check out the documentary, _Anerican Nomads,_ written, presented and narrated by journalist and feature writer, Richard Grant (NOT Richard _E._ Grant!). It's such an evocative film, with a sparse, yet outstanding soundtrack. It's awesome. Basically.
0:45 - Chapter 1 - Buzludzha monument (Bulgaria)
3:45 - Chapter 2 - The catacombs (France)
6:45 - Chapter 3 - Slab city (California)
9:35 - Chapter 4 - Waitomo glowworm caves (New Zealand)
12:10 - Chapter 5 - Giant Causeway (Ireland)
13:21 I remember this story from a “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks” episode. The fact I remember it in as good a detail as I do surprises me, and I thank you for reminding me of these childhood memories.
I have learned more from UA-cam videos then I ever learned in school and Simon Whistler is responsible for like 50% of that.
Hah Buzludza monument have been used in more than one C-lister films as villains lair due to its interesting shape xD
(It’s actually spelled “lair”. [Hey-just trying to be helpful, that’s all!…])
Сериозно ли
Аз не знаех знам че звучи иронично ама не се ебавам
Fun fact: Before communism, Bulgaria sided with the Nazi. It's a very rare case where a country is always on the wrong side of history.
"Wrong side of history" lol yeah okay pal.
@SideProjects In western France Karnak(Carnac), while working an engineering project in France I saw what amazed me, it looked like 5 giants had a race to stack on their ends thousands of massive stones(The Carnac alignments).
I have yet to understand why ordinary size humans would go to such colossal effort to approximately align massive stones, especially since they appear to come from quarries so far away. Please do a segment on this amazing location(or tell me did you cover it elsewhere else) SideProjects
Genuinely surprised that inside Simon's mind wasn't on the list
Only thing on Simon's mind is his next UA-cam channel. Mans gonna have 30 channels by next year
Infinite successful UA-cam channel ideas
We can't possibly know what's going on in the mind of a Time Lord. A dalek, yeah, but a Doctor? Nope
How about inside Simon’s beard?
I was waiting for something about his basement
I love you, Simon. You are great at this.
A side project video on Danny and his extreme living conditions is needed!
My brother's room is a strange place indeed. Things get burried in the Cheetos dust and animie magazines scientists can't explain where the missing items (keys, ect) went but they never resurface and never to be found again.
X-D nice.
It's a mystery even today....
If you do another video you could feature the Catatumbo everlasting lightning storm at Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela with over a million lightning bolts a year.
The Giants Causeway is on my bucket list of places to visit. Thanks for covering it.
9.8/10 for blaze!
Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.
Some people: It's Man Made!
Simon: They're wrong.
Me: Alrighty then, Aliens it is!
When we get into the dystopian future, people may think exactly that.
Not sure which channel this would be best for but I think a video on the Salton Sea in California would be interesting.
3:42 A necromancer's wet dream I imagine. 6M potential soldiers for his undead army if he resurrected them all at once. Someone needs to make a movie based on that.
That is a great idea. Ash vs The Catacombs
the amount of energy/sacrifice to accomplish such a feat would be massive. The reason necromancers like to hang out in crypts, is because there are so many dead bodies, they can summon them one at a time, and rest as needed instead of needing to overly exert themselves. Once you reach a critical mass, you unleash your horde and then summon a large quantity to replace them, for defence, as you rest until you're ready to summon again.
summoning the undead is taxing work myfriend. one must be thoughtful and plan ahead if one it to succeed in dominating the world of the dead.
Herein the rub; if each of your soldiers requires their own unique set of original bones, there's going to be a _lot_ of pushing and shoving and waiting...
@@timfriday9106 protein bars, lots and lots of protein bars.
But how would that fit into the Marvel universe? You can’t just come up with a new idea and make it into a movie you know
The first one looks like one of those revolving restaurants.
I love the intro, straight to the point
I've been to the Buzludzha monument, it's an amazing place.
The Thulean plateau is of course the setting for the cover art of Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy". "Fingal's Cave" is the title of one of the many unused recordings created during Pink Floyd's sessions for the soundtrack for Antonioni's 1970 movie "Zabriskie Point". Death Valley and its Zabriskie Point are themselves mighty strange places.
Good day Simon.
How you doing?
Massive NZ fan here.
Those caves are pronounced ‘why-toe-mow’
You did well!
Ps: been there...
You “can’t” see the worms, but you can see their work.
Recommend a visit. 100%
Side Projects? A second Simon channel? Awesome. Will be difficult to juggle this and top 10s.
So is "before covid" the new BC? that would make 2019 the new 1BC.
Could not have said it better. 😜
so lame. humanity has so much more to its legacy in the 21st century than some a virus with 99% survivability rate. i know it's a joke comment but some wouldn't think so.
How could Covid 19 start in 2020 to make 2019 1 BC?
@@patrickmccurry1563 you're a smart one...lol.
@@patrickmccurry1563 Exactly. It's called "Covid 19" because it debuted in 2019 (not because there were 18 previous Covids as twits like Ted Nugent believe) so 2019 would be Year 1 of the Covidian Calendar. There was no "Year Zero" in the Gregorian calendar so the Covidian calendar might as well follow suit. Which means we're currently living in 2AV (After Virus or Anno Viridae, either works)
Further side project video Idea: Planes that have disappeared in the Bermuda triangle. The one with all those dive boomers.
i love how much you put Ireland in the vids
My Grandmother told me a story about a tour she was on as a girl. The tour guide was a bit drunk and was pointing out stalactites and stalagmites when someone ask what are they call when they come together. He comes back with "mighty tight." I have always like that story and it's what I call them in my head.
I think the "super-sized crickets" you are referring to are probably Cave Wetas. We also have Giant Wetas... harmless but scary as heck!
I would like to know the long term side effects of all the nuclear weapon tests that have gone on since the 40's. I'm sure all the radiation hasn't been good for the environment or our health.
The entire Salton Sea is an environmental disaster. ....then add radiation.... wow.
You're marked. So am I. It's in our bones. Millennia from now, when our corpses are excavated, scientists will say "You see these isotopes? This one lived in the Nuclear Age!" 😉
(Probably not any actual medical effects nowadays though, unless you were there.)
@@Russo-Delenda-Est Indeed. I'd speculate that I have a high probability of increased radiation "influence" within me seeing that I was born in the southern Nevada desert during the mid 70's... just after the desert testings ended.
Marked increase of thyroid dysfunction.
Can you do an episode about ADE? It’s the biggest (dance) festival in the world held every year in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Dance Event is a week long electronic music festival with over 100 events and like a million visitors.
That'd be incredible to attend. I've been to events such as EDC and MM, and those were pretty sizable in there own rights, both being held in Southern California. However, I can't say that either has ever reached over a million visitors, but it has been a while since I last attended one. Fyi EDC = Electronic Daisy Carnival and MM = Monster Massive.
@@skyden24195 just did a little search and my milion estimate was a bit to large. Still 400k visitors to about 2000 events in about a week. Biggest events are in the Amsterdam Arena with about 30k visitors and DJs like Martin Garrix, Davis Guetta, Tiësto etc. It’s pretty awesome.
Please give Antoine Lavoisier a proper Biographics video one day, he sure deserves one!
If you have been to Alron Towers in the UK and been on the ride Hex. It starts off with a story about Rich nobleman who was cursed by an elderly woman that if a branch should ever fall from a certain, death shall fall upon his family. Then one night it was struck by lightning and a branch broke off. Sure enough a family member died. The nobleman then had the tree bound in chains to prevent further branches falling. Off. Some of the story told on this ride is true.. in the wood surrounding the village is a tree with a broken branch and is bound in chains from the either the 18th or 19th century. You should do a video on the true story of the Chained tree in the village of Alton
I'd love a video on the Bismarck battleship. I know you've done the Yamato and several aircraft carriers before, but the Bismarck was such a behemoth of German engineering (for better & for worse)
So true
Good vid Simon, thanks
Manitou Beach, SK. In the middle of the North American continent and not connected to any other bodies of water yet it’s a salt water lake as salty as the Dead Sea and you don’t have to worry about knowing how to swim because the water is so buoyant that you just float on the surface.
NZ person here, gotta say your pronounciation of Waitomo was actually half decent, so good job with that Simon.
You almost got the pronunciation right! The giant crickets you’re referring too are probably weta. One of the largest insects in the world. Totally harmless, but terrifying haha pronunciation would be “Wai” pronounced “why”, and “to” with the “o” pronounced as in “off” short sound. Same with “mo” wai to mo. If the vowel has a macron as in ō it’s a long vowel sound and pronounced more like “oh”. But I’m far from knowing anything at all about Te Reo 😢
01:57 why do those look so much like cartoon tanks, it's killing me 😂
The nations of former Yugoslavia have a heap of bizarre concrete structures
Suggestion: Chicano Park, San Diego, California.
Once the proposed site for a police substation, the community in that neighborhood got together and created a beautiful park, a safe place for children and their families.
These days Chicano Park hosts many cultural events throughout the year, all reflecting the Hispanic culture and history of that area.
It's beautiful :-)
As a New Zealander, actually pretty impressed with your pronunciation of Waitomo
I got one that's pretty interesting I believe there's a place in Mexico where there's an underground cave full of Giant Crystals that looks a lot like Superman Fortress of Solitude.
love your videos ty
Can you please do an episode on the wing suit? A lot of people died in the creation of it and it would cool to hear their stories.
That would be a good "Sideprojects" as opposed to, say, the parachute. Funny enough, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Cradle of Life," which is (as of this posting) available on UA-cam movies, and I repeatedly keep watching, features our hero and her companion using said suits to escape baddies.
Could say Parliament is probably one of the strangest places on the planet, but that is too obvious
The US House and Senate rank right up ( or down) there on strangeness scale
Another entertaining video Simon 👏👌
Slab city is a crazy place but interesting! Don't go at night.
Why not? Creepy, or dangerous?
@@GuntherRommel : dangerous
@@GuntherRommel both really. There's lots of druggies and the place isn't patrolled by sheriff deputies often.
@@albertlira7443 and to you "druggies" are automatically dangerous? Have you have a bad experience there?
@@ArchieStiglitz No, only the ones with knives that want your wallet and watch. The other ones are OK.
Can u do a world's fair project, I'd like to know why they stopped and what they were, great videos!
Next time you do a weird/random structures video try to throw the Foam Henge in Virginia,USA. It's pretty funny, replica of Stone Henge...just made of giant blocks of foam and in the middle of nowhere
I live 4 hours from Slab City and I had never heard of it lol. Thanks Simon!
Honestly really bloody close Waitomo is pronounced whytomo the a is silent but definatly the best pronunciation of a NZ name that I have heard on UA-cam I do applaude you Simon Māori place names aren't easy to pronounce especially for some outside of the country
New Zealander here: Your pronunciation of 'Waitomo' is close enough. You pronounce it with a higher pitch 'o' sound vs. the correct Maori pronunciation but apart from that it's fine. It's 3 syllables like you pronounced it so good job Simon!
Simon did the same thing in another video recently, saying he wasn't sure how to pronounce Woomera. As an experiment, it took me all of about 1 minute to find some old Aussie newsreel on UA-cam where the name was spoken by locals. Sadly, Simon opted to wing it with "Woo-MARE-uh" on that occasion, which wasn't such a good job!
It tickles me that he's one of the most prolific UA-camrs out there but doesn't seem to think of using UA-cam as a resource for help with pronouncing those tricky placenames :)
You finally said it *correctly!* Great job!
You should do a video on the la Brea tar pits!!
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
You got the pronunciation right for Waitomo Caves 👌they’re a great tourist attraction-you should go sometime. It’s a beautiful area of the world. Born in Blighty UK 🇬🇧 I live in New Zealand 🇳🇿 now 👌
I've been to Waitomo caves a few times and yes you pronounced it correctly. 👍
Glow worms!
Visited Waitomo whilst backpacking - its great, definitely worth a visit.
Simon...i was hoping to see the ancient nuclear reactor of Oklo, Africa on this list
Is it just me or don't the reasons for the catacombs of Paris sound pretty illogical?
Like I've never thought of France as one of the countries in the world that have a very limited amount of free space left to work with and what kind of public health issues could possibly be linked to traditions where they're burying the dead in graveyards?
Luckily I don't know a ton about the subject of how the dead affect the living so I don't think I'm being too unfair questioning people in the past with limited available knowledge, so...
Spontaneously it doesn't sound like collecting dead bodies from all over the country to then place them in a huge underground maze below the highly populated capital would have a overall posetive impact on people's health if there were reasons to believe traditional burial grounds were problematic somehow.
Is there someone here who could shine some light on why this decision made any sense to anybody?
I mean it wasn't exactly effortless either so they probably thought there were plenty of motivation to get it done and not just on a whim.
The Catacombs make for a great game setting. They're featured in Reign of Terror and Horror on the Orient Express, both are Call of Cthulhu scenarios.
SimonSays truth I love your channels thank you.
You can’t fool me - Dimitar Blagoev is Misha Collins wearing a funny beard
the strangest place on earth has to be the internet