Welcome to Where Worlds Collide, a website that’s been around in some shape or form since the late 1990s.

As the title suggests, it covers a wide range of topics. There’s music news and reviews from the world of progressive rock and metal. There are thoughts on software development from the perspective of a software tester. There’s stuff about trains, science-fiction, and games. And there are political thinkpieces guaranteed to get up the noses of anyone who is either too far to the right or too far to the left.

Since it’s a rare person who is deeply interested in every single one of those things, the site is organised into different blogs for different topics. So if you really can’t stand our taste in music or are appalled by our politics, dive into the things that do interest you.

And if you still want to read everything, there’s always the “All Posts” view.

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Swamp Fotball

Originating in Finland, instead of playing football or soccer on a green field, swamp football is played in swamps, mud fields or bogs. If an actual swamp isn’t available the game is played on a muddy field. Playing like this can be physically demanding and once it was a form of exercise activity for soldiers and athletes.

World Championship held in Finland

It’s a fairly new sport this form of football and the first organized competition was the Finnish Championship when 13 teams took part. It’s popular in Finland and has caught on in other countries like Holland, Brazil, Russia, Iceland and Sweden. The World Championships are played in Finland. There are quite a few rules and the game consists of two 13-minute halves and there is no offside rule.

Lose your Shoe and You’re off the Field

One or two of the other rules in swamp football are that during the game you can’t put on new boots. In fact, the player who loses his shoe has to leave the pitch. There are 6 players on the field and they can be substituted whenever necessary. Having so few players on the field makes the sport particularly challenging and exhausting.

Lots of Entertainment Value

Swamp football isn’t only for the guys, and the women are playing their own swamp soccer. The sport has lots of entertainment value and amusement as the players become filthy and can become stuck in the mud which can be as high as the groin. A good player has to know how to move around in the mud, and watching all this promises to be highly entertaining.

Tuna Tossing

Tuna Toss is one of the oldest sports on the Australian coast. This famous festival traditionally was held in Port Lincoln, South Australia, as a celebration of the local fishing industry. Tuna Tossing was first held in 1979 and has slowly been entrenched in the Australian culture, continuing to be celebrated to the present date.

How It Goes

Here, players seek to throw the tuna as far as possible. Fresh Tuna was initially used in the competition. This has however changed and since 2008, players use a weighted plastic tuna in the initial rounds. During the final rounds of the competition, players use a 10 kg frozen Bluefin Tuna. Notably, no fish are killed during the Tunarama Festival. Only undersized fishes that have died naturally are used.

Hammer Throwing Technique

The Hammer Throwing Technique is one of the most popular Tuna Throwing techniques in the Tunarama Festival. This method involves spinning the tuna several times before unleashing it. The furthest a player has thrown a Tuna is 37.23 metres. This record is held by Sean Carlin since 1998. Carlin is also the present holder of the Australian hammer throw record.

Tuna Tossing Going Global

While Tuna tossing is an activity that was traditionally an Australian affair, it is now getting reception in many parts of the globe and more so on coastal lines. The event has also been incorporated in the Olympics and other world sporting competitions. Notably, Tuna throwing is also attracting quite a number of sponsors.

Cheese Rolling

Looking for some thrill in your otherwise monotonous life? You may want to take up one of the extreme sports! If you haven’t heard of the term, extreme sport refers to those activities which involve excitement as well as some risk. These sports not only give us adrenaline rush but also make us feel invincible. A few examples include ice climbing, base jumping, cave diving, and the cheese rolling.

What is Cheese Rolling on the earth?

The Rolling Cheese Festival or “Cheese Rolling” is one of the oldest traditions in the UK. The event takes place every year on the Mount Cooper hill in Gloucestershire. Over the years, it has gained a lot of popularity and people from all over the world rush to the city to witness the event. From the top of the hill, a Double Gloucester cheese, weighing 7–9 pounds, is launched and the competitors must run along with it down the hill.

Excitement comes with its own risk

That’s where it gets complicated, as most lose their balance and start rolling out of control. Due to the slope, it is practically impossible to stand up all the way down. The first to take the cheese or cross the finish line will be the winner. Health services usually have a lot of work this day, but for the contestants, the injuries and suffering are worth it.

Wrapping it up!

Are you wondering about the prize awarded to the winner? The prize for the first person who grabs the cheese (or who was closest to catching it) and reaches the finish line is the cheese itself. If you like excitement and love cheese, you are encouraged to participate, but then you must do it at your own risk!

Sepak Takraw

Sepak takraw, also known as chinlone or kick volleyball is a game that traces its roots in South East Asia. It differs from its sister volleyball game in that players are allowed to touch the ball using their chest, head, feet or even knees. Here, players use a rattan ball as well. Notably, most rules are similar to those of the conventional volleyball.

King’s Cup World Championships

King’s Cup World Championships is certainly the most prestigious tournament for this sport. It is dedicated to his majesty, the King of Thailand and was established in 1955. The sport is governed by the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation in Asia and the International Sepak Takraw Federation for other international countries outside Asia. Notably, the King’s Cup tournament has always been held in Thailand exclusively since its inception.

Some Insights into Sepak Takraw

The game derives its name from Southeast Asia. Indeed, the word Sepak is a Malay word meaning kick. Takraw, on the other hand, is a Thai word meaning woven ball. The ball is woven and is made of synthetic fibre. Its court is similar to that of badminton and measures 13.4 m long and 6.1 m wide.

Game Rules at the Pitch

Usually, this game requires three players on each side of the pitch. This includes server, striker and bowler. Also, a team is allowed a maximum of three passes before passing on the ball to the other side of the net. If players leave their respective positions, they can easily lose points.

Chess Boxing

While boxing is a duel that is usually characterised by ruthlessness and physical strength, Chess requires mental shrewdness and a clear mind. This therefore begs the question, what exactly is Chess Boxing? It is a hybrid sport that is increasingly gaining in popularity and combines both the physicality of boxing and the mental game of chess.

Defining Chess Boxing

Enthusiasts of the game see Chess Boxing as a merger between the intellectual and physical aspects of the combined sports. This competitive sport brings on board the two extremes of endurance, while blending them together. Competitors take part in alternating rounds of Chess and Boxing, to determine the ultimate winner between mind and body. Lepe Rubingh is the founding father of this sport and Enes Bilalović is one of the renowned Chess Boxing champions.

Chess Boxing Increasing Popularity

Since its inception, the popularity of this competitive sport has grown in leaps and bounds. The game is now considerably popular in Europe, having been founded in Germany, and is now a favorite pastime for many people in India, Russia and Great Britain. This also explains why some of the biggest names in Chess Boxing come from these countries.

Famous Chess Boxing Stars

If you have even the slightest interest in Chess Boxing, then you have probably heard of Russia’s former World Chess Boxing champion Nikolay. Others include Bulgaria’s Tihomir “Tigertad” Titschko, and the renowned UK star Tim Woolgar. There are many more sportsmen that are bringing the world of Chess Boxing to the forefront in different countries around the globe.

Toe Wrestling

Yes, you read the title correctly. Toe Wrestling is an actual sport with a rich history that was invented in 1974, in Wetton, Staffordshire. Similar to arm wrestling, it also has no time limit and involves locking feet with your opponent. It has 3 rounds and players are judged on a best of 2, out of 3 wins.

Created by four drinkers!

After a Canadian won in 1976, the sport was discontinued for a number of years. Currently, the World Toe Wrestling Championship is held annually in Derbyshire, England. Four drinking buddies, Pete Dean, Pete Cheetham, Mick Dawson, and Eddie Stansfield created and conceptualised this game, this is inclusive of the rules on how to play it. The four had tried inventing other games in an effort to find a sport that the UK could finally have a world champion in.

Winners of The Title

The Olympic Committee has refused to acknowledge the sport. However, it has continued to grow and gain popularity. Mick Dawson was the very first winner and held that title until 1976. Participating players have nicknames that are in line with keeping the light humour of the game. There’s Paul “Toeminator” Beech, Tom “100m” Martin and Alan “Nasty” Nash. Nasty is the current holder of the World Toe Wrestling Championship title.

Final Thoughts On Toe Wrestling

As a contact game, your foot has to come into contact with your opponent’s foot. Both players have to remove their socks, and as a common courtesy and sign of good sportsmanship, players remove each other’s socks and shoes. The rules are simple. You’re required to pin your opponent’s toe for 3 seconds. So the next time you’re looking for a fun, lighthearted game to play with buddies, try toe wrestling and see who will be the ultimate ‘Toeminator’!

Underwater Hockey

There are a number of sports that were originally played on land but which have moved to water, thus, creating a new form of the original sport. In addition to sports such as underwater rugby, underwater orienteering, and underwater wrestling, there is also underwater hockey. It is a sport that takes place at the bottom of a pool.

How It Came To Be

The British Navy invented the game in the year 1954 to keep the divers fit and improve their ability to work and move efficiently under water. Alan Blake and a group of other divers, who had their own diving club, played underwater hockey for the first time in Portsmouth, England. They introduced a couple of simple rules and called the sport ‘Octopush’ – a name that is popular till date.

Rules of Underwater Hockey

Each team consists of 10 players. However, only 6 players from each team are submerged in the water and the remaining 4 act as rolling substitutes. The players play on the pool floor where the 1.5 kg puck is situated. Players pass the puck along the floor to their teammates using a stick attached to their glove that’s roughly one-foot in length.

Winning the Game

The team scores a goal when it manages to hit the puck into the opponent’s goal using the stick. The winner is announced with maximum goals once the allotted time surpasses. If the game comes to a tie after the allocated time, then an extra 15 minutes are allocated to find a winner.

Extreme Ironing

Extreme Ironing is one outdoor that combines both excitement and danger. The sport features the extreme excitement of having a shirt that is extremely well pressed. This game involves taking your ironing box, the board and a few pieces of laundry to a far away remote place. You then can iron the piece of cloth on a rock end or some other dangerous place.

Sport that mixes danger with satisfaction

Extreme Ironing has been around for quite some years now. This idea of this game was first put on paper in 1997 in Leicester UK. In 1999, a recruitment for World Championship was conducted and some countries such as Australia, Fiji, South Africa and the US were brought on board. in 2002, the first ever World Championship was held in Munich, Germany. Hot pants, a German national won this championship.

Extreme Ironing Expansion

This sport has been expanding in the recent years and is now available in some other countries such as Austria, Croatia and Chile. One of the countries that participate in the sport and has the highest number of remote locations is Australia. As such, many ironists consider it a very favourable location for the sport.

Final Thoughts on Extreme Ironing

Extreme Ironing has a bright future ahead. Over the years, the sport has been expanding to several countries in the world. With the ironists trying out more and more dangerous points to try out their sport, more fans are also coming on board. Considering the fact that there is already a World Championship for the same, the sport has bright days ahead.

Guns N’ Roses Slot Machine

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Hard Rock Slot With Great Features

The graphics, sounds and symbols draw you into the theme, with headbanging optional! Select your coin value and levels and spin the reels to the sound of the classic November Rain.

The symbols are works of art, from the rose-covered 10 – Ace cards, to the band members and guitar picks as the higher paying symbols.

Look out for the random multipliers from 4x to 10x that can be added to a winning line of matching symbols.

A Wild Wild Time At This NetEnt Concert

Going wild at a concert is not unknown, and NetEnt adds its own perception of this, with random wilds and expanding wilds substituting for other symbols. Plus, there are two other random features,

Appetite for Destruction and Legend Spins, with stacked wilds and overlay wilds. A bonus game is triggered by 3 bonus record symbols, which awards one of three bonus features, including a pick-me game.

Bonus Features Please The Crowds

This is an excellent slot for lovers of surprises and hands out big bonuses, as each spin brings something new. It is a demanding slot that gives any iGamer a great experience, For more slot machines handing out huge bonuses, check out casino-bonus.com which is a site that lists the biggest bonuses available at the moment!

Everything you want of a great slot is there, and more besides. This is a show stopping concert , you are there, you are involved. Its unique features are a real draw, from the Crowd Pleaser Bonus to the random solo multiplier. This is one concert you can return back to time after time.

Wife Carrying

Wife Carrying is a unique sport in which male participants compete while carrying a female teammate. The objective of this competition is for the male to carry his female contestant through the specified obstacle within the shortest time possible. This sport was first introduced in Sonkajärvi, Finland. Although it is called Wife Carrying, males are not forced to go with their real wives.

One of The World’s Weirdest Sports

The sport started in 1992, and each year, a World Championship is held in Sonkajärvi, Finland. The fastest runner wins beer that is equivalent to his wife’s weight. After it was established, the sport involved going through a rough and rocky terrain. Nevertheless, this has been changed to make the course more friendly. Instead of huge rocks, there is sand, fences and an area with water.

History of Wife Carrying

This idea of Wife Carrying is backed up by a local history that argues it was inspired by Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen, who was commonly referred to as Ronkainen the Robber. The man lived in a forest and together with his gang, they would invade the village, steal some food and women and then carry them on their back as they escaped.

Common Wife Carrying Rules

Wife Carrying observes certain rules, just like is the case with all sports. The official track has a length of 253.5 metres, with one water obstacle and two dry obstacles. The woman has to weigh at least 49 kg and in case she’s not, she’ll be given a rucksack with additional weight. The race is run by two pairs at a time. Lastly, besides Finland, the sport is also practised in Australia, Asia, United States, United Kingdom, and North America.