back to article YouTuber cements head inside microwave oven

A YouTube stunt imbecile was rescued by firefighters yesterday after cementing his head inside a microwave. The video of the incident, titled I cemented my head in a microwave and emergency services came.. (nearly died), can be found on the TGFbro channel, as part of an "Extreme Christmas Calendar" series. It has gained more …

Page:

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Darwin denied.

    1. Jeroen Braamhaar

      It's a good nomination though, although not (yet) worthy of an Award.

      1. Gatt

        Give it time...

        ....he'll try it again with something else soon enough

      2. The Vociferous Time Waster

        Also that assumes he hasn’t already fouled the gene pool.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Shame it wasn't the sort that heated up as it cured. His brain literally being cooked would have made good viewing.

      1. ibmalone

        A few nasty stories about that mistake, there was a GCSE or A-level student not too long ago who wanted to take a cast of their hands for their project and didn't realise plaster of paris heats as it sets.

        1. Justin Clift

          > ... and didn't realise plaster of paris heats as it sets.

          Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar

          Asking because I've personally cast body parts (using commercial prepared plaster gauze), and the "heating" isn't anything like bad enough to worry about. Were they doing something really strange?

          1. the spectacularly refined chap

            See this link from the BBC. As I understand it the issue arises with large bulk quantities of plaster. A layer of gauze soaked in plaster simply doesn't have the quantity needed to create harmful heat build up.

            1. Justin Clift

              > See this link from the BBC.

              Holy crap. That poor kid. :(

              1. cray74

                Holy crap. That poor kid. :(

                Gah, and there were pictures of her hands.

                Now I'm wondering why the YouTube rocket scientist didn't bake his head with the plaster. Better heat transfer with the head's large blood supply?

                1. The Indomitable Gall

                  @cray74:

                  " Now I'm wondering why the YouTube rocket scientist didn't bake his head with the plaster. Better heat transfer with the head's large blood supply? "

                  No -- he's lucky that he picked Polyfilla, which doesn't heat up with curing.

          2. Wensleydale Cheese

            "Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar"

            As I recall, it's applied one thin layer at a time, in strips. There's plenty of time (and surface area) to cool things off between layers.

            A heat insulated microwave packed with the stuff all in one go will be a different matter.

          3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Difference between putting thin layers with the outside exposed to the air and building up slowly and putting your hands into a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff.

            The same way it is trivial to pour a 2 inch thick concrete base for a garden path, trickier to cast a dam wall.

            1. jake Silver badge

              You don't pour concrete.

              You place it.

              And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

              1. Kiwi
                Boffin

                Re: You don't pour concrete.

                You don't pour concrete.

                You place it.

                All that time I spent working around construction-related industries and never knew. Nor did the architects, engineers, inspectors, concrete-truck drivers, people who removed the air from the concrete after each pour etc etc etc. The only time I heard someone use "place" in relation to concrete was telling someone where to put broken concrete ("place it in the bin over there") - everything else was referred to as "pour".

                And yes, my experience involves buildings over 20 stories high.

                And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

                Depends on where you live and what you're trying to achieve. I've known a couple where if you're not putting in steel-reinforced concrete your path won't last long (of course, a route that wasn't across in front of the tractor shed (right next to the house unusually - he hated to walk far) would've worked wonders for the brick path he wanted to have!)

                1. jake Silver badge

                  Re: You don't pour concrete.

                  Kiwi, take a gander at:

                  http://deeconcrete.com/concrete/glossary-pq.asp

                  Scroll down to "placing".

                  Re. path foundation: As I describe works everywhere I've ever built a path with pavers. Including the one I drive a tractor over daily, the driveway in front of my garage, and one in Nevada, where the temperature dips into the 20-below F (close to -30C) range regularly during the winter. All are over 15 years old, and holding up quite nicely. The ten year old variation that fords the seasonal creek is going to need replacing in a couple years.

                  1. Kiwi

                    Re: You don't pour concrete.

                    Kiwi, take a gander at:

                    http://deeconcrete.com/concrete/glossary-pq.asp

                    Scroll down to "placing".

                    Who the hell are "Dee Concrete"? What makes you think they're better at defining concrete terminology than the millions of places who assert that "pour" is the correct term?

                    Re. path foundation: As I describe works everywhere I've ever built a path with pavers. Including the one I drive a tractor over daily, the driveway in front of my garage, and one in Nevada, where the temperature dips into the 20-below F (close to -30C) range regularly during the winter. All are over 15 years old, and holding up quite nicely. The ten year old variation that fords the seasonal creek is going to need replacing in a couple years.

                    We only get mild frosts for a few weeks a year where I grew up, which is probably why where your ground stays solid enough with a bit of sand ours turns to sometimes more than a metre of mud (in select places, like where tractors run over them often), thus making sand-based "foundations" rather rubbish in heavy-use areas. Hell, some places need much more than that just for people walking out to a clothesline with a basket of washing.

                    Your area may be much different to ours though, you may not get the near constant quakes (even if some are quite small), your soil may not get as liquid as it gets here at times, and you may be able to get away with these things. Not everyone can.

                    Success over seasonal creeks can vary significantly. When I was not long on farming (14/15yo) I drove a light tractor (tiny wee baby Massey-Fergusson 135, only a tonne and a half or so) across a paddock that clearly had a creek in part of it, but where I drove was dry with no water. A little while later a fertilizer truck came through and the driver followed my tracks. His truck was several times the weight of the tractor and where I found hard dry ground he found that it was only the surface, soft mud deeper down. In the same place, your packed-sand foundation would've failed just as fast as what he dove over, they're usually only a few inches thick and designed to take people walking over them or the odd vehicle, not 10 tonne diggers.

                    1. jake Silver badge

                      Re: You don't pour concrete.

                      Maybe this link will help convince you:

                      http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Placing.aspx

                      Call 'em and ask for clarification. Report back. I'll bet you a plugged nickel the answer is that they tolerate "poured" in the same way that techies tolerate nontechies calling the box that holds the motherboard, power supply, disks, memory, processor, network card(s) etc. "The CPU".

                      We only get mild frosts here in Sonoma. Ground is alluvial from mixed sources. Even when soggy you don't sink much past the topsoil. I'm pretty certain we can give you a run for your money regarding earthquakes. The place in Nevada is high, dry, and cold, also alluvial, and gets plenty of earthquakes.

                      I've built in other corners of the world, with no issues. However, you're right in that if you're building on mud, all bets are off. Stabilizing mud is no fun at all. I can show you buildings built on the mud flats of San Francisco Bay that have pilings driven over 120 feet into the mud. They "float", and were actually designed to sink 5 feet further over their expected lifetime. Think flexible connections for water, power, natural gas, communications & sewer. I'm glad I don't have that problem.

                      1. Kiwi

                        Re: You don't pour concrete.

                        Maybe this link will help convince you:

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Placing.aspx

                        Call 'em and ask for clarification. Report back.

                        No idea who these people are, the organisation only goes back as far as 2006. I've checked with organisations (eg Fletchers and FIrth) who've been around much longer. I'll ask around a few mates still associated with the industry if I remember too tomorrow, but I haven't heard of these guys myself. I do know that no one talked about "placing" concrete back then, it was called "pouring" because that was what the trucks and other machines were doing - pouring concrete. Some into formers (eg for columns), some into holes in the ground (eg foundations). Even a mate who has been a steel fixer for almost as long as I've been alive, and has worked on some interesting sites, calls it pouring.

                        I see in their document "guide to concrete construction" they use the term "This helps compact the concrete near the top of the pour as the vibrator is withdrawn from the concrete." (emphasis mine) - or you can look at http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Residental-Driveways.aspx for "Cool, overcast weather is ideal for pouring concrete. It should not be poured if rain or frost is forecast." (in fact the string "pour" comes up 4 times in that page alone). Their "news feed" off their home page prominently lists "http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11810779" (though that news site probably rates about as high as the flail).

                        More on their site : http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Admixtures.aspx

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Joints.aspx

                        http://www.ccanz.org.nz/page/Early-Age-Crack-Control.aspx

                        I'll bet you a plugged nickel the answer is that they tolerate "poured"

                        Looks like they're more than happy to use "pour" in relation to concreting. But I'll drop them a line. I'll reference this thread so maybe one of them will speak directly.

                        in the same way that techies tolerate nontechies calling the box that holds the motherboard, power supply, disks, memory, processor, network card(s) etc. "The CPU".

                        I haven't heard it called that for a long time! Though in some respects, especially when you have a lot of external peripherals, that's not too far off the mark really. Much better than those who call the computer the modem and call the monitor the computer or something else.

                        We only get mild frosts here in Sonoma. Ground is alluvial from mixed sources. Even when soggy you don't sink much past the topsoil. I'm pretty certain we can give you a run for your money regarding earthquakes. The place in Nevada is high, dry, and cold, also alluvial, and gets plenty of earthquakes.

                        I didn't actually realise Nevada got any quakes, and I had forgotten you're more around SF area (IIRC - no idea where Sonoma is otherwise :) ).

                        The area I grew up is beautiful soil for all but building on it. Deep volcanic ash. Deep. And very rich. Bedrock is surprising deep in some areas (given the nearby rather large chunk of rock known as Mt Egmont that sticks out of the ground a bit).

                        Stabilizing mud is no fun at all. I can show you buildings built on the mud flats of San Francisco Bay that have pilings driven over 120 feet into the mud. They "float", and were actually designed to sink 5 feet further over their expected lifetime. Think flexible connections for water, power, natural gas, communications & sewer. I'm glad I don't have that problem.

                        I've seen some of that. The last "big" building I worked on (look up Midland Park, Wellington - look at the monstrosity behind it - I knew that thing when it was a hole in the ground) had some fun issues with ground water, even with the bedrock not being too far down. Of course, reclaimed land 'n'all, and what wasn't reclaimed came up during the 1840 quake that raised levels (IIRC along Lambton Quay there's "shoreline 1840" plaques on the footpath - showing where the shore was before that quake - those are inland from the site I mentioned). Not sure how they built the old central police station on there back in.. can't recall the year but a good 100 of them ago, though that was only 4 stories plus a (rather waterlogged by the time I saw it) basement.

                        I don't think we have many of the "floating" buildings here, and I kinda hope - given the nature of these "shaky isles" - that we don't get much more of them, and if we do they far exceed current standards.

                        (Hope this is ready to send - takes a while when you have to wait a few minutes for a page to load.. God willing my connection may improve significantly tomorrow!)

                        1. jake Silver badge

                          Re: You don't pour concrete.

                          The Sonoma Valley's about an hour by road NNEish of San Francisco. Centered roughly here. Nice place, all in all, if you ignore the Rogers Creek Fault, which runs up the West side of the valley.

                          The "floating buildings" actually fare well in earthquakes. They just roll with it, kind of like stick-built homes on slabs.

                          Must dash, I'm getting yelled at from the barn...

                2. kain preacher

                  Re: You don't pour concrete.

                  Kiwi the exception is one you place prefabbed/ pre poured concrete .

                  1. Kiwi
                    Pint

                    Re: You don't pour concrete.

                    Kiwi the exception is one you place prefabbed/ pre poured concrete .

                    That would certainly make sense to me. I'd have no question with "placing" pre-cast slabs.

              2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
                Thumb Up

                Re: You don't pour concrete.

                And you don't make the foundation for a garden path out of concrete. You use well-packed roadbase and/or sand.

                Sand or "stone dust" in New England, because water freezes. You want it to drain away quickly, before it freezes and disrupts your carefully laid brick/stonework.

          4. ibmalone

            > Hmmm, isn't Plaster of Paris used (with gauze) to make plaster casts? eg for broken limbs and similar

            A bit late with my reply on this sorry, it seems that in gauze form it heats less than just using raw plaster, which is the mistake made by the unwary, raw plaster of paris being a common material in art departments. I'm fairly ignorant of the area, but turned up this, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3746057>. You can get burned with gauze, but it's harder to do. (I think there's just less plaster by mass/volume in gauze, so more mass to heat, and heating probably increases the reaction rate too, so when it gets hotter it keeps getting hotter.)

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        "Shame it wasn't the sort that heated up as it cured."

        No chance. That sort of thing requires effort - it need mixing. Polyfilla comes ready mixed.

    3. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      FAIL

      I have always thought...

      I have always thought when the call is picked up by the emergency services, there are explicit questions they should ask of which "Is youtube involved?" being one, and if the answer is yes, then the emergency responders should say "Sorry, but we can't help you."

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: I have always thought...

        "Sorry, but we can't help you."

        then forward the call to the morgue, so they can call in early for rapid pickup. and the subsequent Darwin award.

        1. bitten

          Re: I have always thought...

          The problem is that it is easier to get a bystander put you on YouTube than to get any help

          1. Sparks_

            Re: I have always thought...

            Can't make a call when already started recording video.... Perhaps this is a new phone feature to build in, an emergency services call button on the camera just for such instances. Then the discussion with the dispatcher asking "he's done what?!!" is recorded for posterity.

            Perhaps add an auto-submit to Darwin award comittee button too...

      2. Mark 85

        Re: I have always thought...

        I have always thought when the call is picked up by the emergency services, there are explicit questions they should ask of which "Is youtube involved?"

        Add to that since Youtube isn't always involved: "Did he yell 'Hey ya'll, watch this.'?".* Those last words seem to be very common among some of the recent dead.

        *Usually followed but not always heard by bystanders is: "Oh...s**t!!!!".

        1. F111F

          Re: I have always thought...

          I imagine an call center guy taking these and asking the following questions before dispatching help...

          “Sir, please calm down, I cannot understand you when you’re screaming in pain.” (Picks his nose)

          “Is this emergency a result of YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram, FaceBook or other social media posting.”?

          “Were the words ‘Hold my phone’, ‘Hey y’all watch this’, or ‘Hold my beer’ uttered by the person or persons in need of help”?

          “If you answered in the affirmative to either of these conditions we are unable to assist you at this time, have a nice day.”

    4. Joseph Haig

      Darwin denied

      ... unless, of course, the five firefighters then took it in turns to kick him in the balls.

  2. chivo243 Silver badge

    Tuber for a brain?

    Mr. Potatohead? Naah, he's got more brains...

    1. David Haworth 1

      Re: Tuber for a brain?

      You beat me to the post.

    2. asdf

      Re: Tuber for a brain?

      I heard a comment that made me laugh on another site where a poster said that emergency services should have plugged the microwave in and put it on the potato setting and pressed go.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be worse, could have tried to put his cock in a toaster. You can't beat a bit of brown.

    1. IneptAdept

      I think that would of been a much better prank.....

      Then at least there would be a change of him no longer contributing to the DNA pool

      1. ArrZarr Silver badge
        Coat

        @AC

        Once it goes black, it never goes back?

      2. Mark York 3 Silver badge
        Childcatcher

        FTFY

        Then at least there would be a charge of him no longer contributing to the DNA pool.

    2. el kabong

      They prefer to drill tight holes in wet soap bars and slide their cocks inside, they do it quite often, for fun. Perhaps one they they will post some videos showing us how it's done.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        They prefer to drill tight holes in wet soap bars....

        Out of interest, how do you know?

        1. el kabong

          "Out of interest, how do you know?"

          Caught you!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Out of interest how do you know that they know?

            Furthermore, how would I know that you know that they know and they know that I know.

            QED.

      2. Tigra 07
        IT Angle

        RE: el kabong

        Also out of interest, why would you need instructions on how to drill a hole in a bar of soap?

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Agree

      The imbecile (oxymoron calling YouTube "star" imbecile, I know), got lucky. They used polifilla which sets slowly. If it was real plaster, he would have baked inside. It can get to 60C while setting. Happens every few years to some "artist" trying to create a mold from their hand or feet. 3rd degree burn and missing fingers.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        3rd degree burn and missing fingers

        is that how van gogh lost his ear? I thought he bit it off?

        1. Mikey

          Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

          @AC

          You really think that's what he did to his ear? Seriously?

          I want you to show me how you bite your own ear off, you daft sod. It'll make a great youtube vid!

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

            Everybody knows that, Mikey. In order to reach it, he stood on a chair.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: 3rd degree burn and missing fingers

            @Mikey

            It's one of my go to questions when dealing with hipster arty types to see if they're listening.

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like