Drunken Bullwinkle goes up tree looking for Rocky?

Here in the United States, there is the proverbial calling of the fire department to rescue a poor kittie trapped in a tree. Of course, cats can (usually) climb back down. Not so with moose. Apparently it is not terribly uncommon in Sweden for moose to eat fermented apples, get terribly barmy, and climb up the apple trees (looking for more delectable apples, no doubt.) So this man was coming home and lo!, a moose was twisted in a small apple tree. They had to cut most of the tree away to rescue the moose, then allowed it to 'sleep it off' there.

Drunk Moose Gets Stuck in Swedish Apple Tree [PHOTOS & VIDEO]

A drunk moose, intoxicated from eating too many fermented apples, was stuck in an apple tree in Sweden before being spotted by a Swedish passerby and rescued.

The moose was found by Per Johansson in Saro just south of Gothenberg in Sweden while on his commute home from work, stuck in a tree, drunk from eating apples.

Drunken moose ends up stuck in Swedish apple tree

It was a dark, windy and rainy night when Per Johansson returned from work to his home in Saro just south of Gothenburg, Sweden.

"It was raining really bad. In the wind I heard something screaming with a very dark voice," Johansson told CNN. "At first I wondered if it was the crazy neighbors, but then I heard it again and went and checked. I saw something really big up in a tree in my neighbors' yard and it was a moose. It must have been drunk after eating fermented apples and as it was reaching out for more fruit it must have slipped and fallen into the tree."

Silly moose. Squirrels often live in OAK trees, not tiny apple ones.

Thanks to YKWIA, who called me tonight with this truly blog-worthy story. :)

It's not every day you see a flaming straw goat

Swedish Christmas straw goat burnt

A giant straw goat - the traditional Scandinavian yuletide symbol - erected each Christmas in a Swedish town has been burned to the ground yet again.

The 13-metre (43-ft) high billy goat has been torched 24 times since it was first erected in Gavle in 1966.

The goat was set alight in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the city north of Stockholm.

City spokeswoman Anna Ostman said the incident, which is being treated as serious vandalism, was "sad".

"We had really hoped that he would survive Christmas and New Year's," she said.

The goat has survived the Christmas season just 10 times since 1966. I think the town should embrace the tradition--it has shades of a pagan sacrifice à la the Wicker Man. (And before you say, but it's Christmas, and Christian, let me just remind you that Yuletide greenery, Christmas trees, and Jolly Old Elves have nothing to do with Christianity, but are pagan remnants, as is the date of Christmas and the tradition of giving gifts. Without paganism, there would be no Christmas, or at least any Christmas fun.)

Thanks to YKWIA

I have SMiLE.dk's 'Butterfly' in my head:



(Incidentally, the band is Swedish; their songs were first marketed in Denmark, hence the '.dk' in the name, just like Denmark's domain name.)

For a similar Danish artist, try Aqua of 'Barbie Girl' fame:



Okay, enough bubblegum pop for the day. :)