It all started in 2005 when Denver scientist Steve Spangler went to the backyard of 9News with anchor Kim Christiansen and dropped some Mentos mint candies into a big bottle of Diet Coke. Kim was told it would explode, Spangler had done this before on the show, but Kim got confused or something and stood there — and got completely soaked when the explosion turned into a geyser.
“I was a like a root-beer float,” Christiansen says.
But you were supposed to run away, I tell her.
“There was no way to get out of the way,” she says. “But it was pretty cool, and I smelled pretty good.”
YouTube was just seven months old, and people had to put something on it. The Spangler/Christiansen version went viral — then thousands more people did the trick themselves. Now you go to YouTube and there are millions upon millions of views of Mentos Geysers. (Go to “original mentos diet coke geyser.”)
Spangler has also been a regular guest on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” — which is why he has a cool, new book out, “Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes: Unforgettable Experiments That Make Science Fun.” It’s very slick, with chapters on Mentos, of course, and floating pingpong balls, flying toilet paper, bubbling lava bottles, eating nails for breakfast and many more.
“This is what I have always wanted to do,” Spangler says. “Make a coffee-table book with great photographs. We took more than 4,000 pictures and used 248. It has 35 experiments you can do at home and at school. It’s trying to get kids hooked on science. But it’s not science, it’s an experience.”
He’ll find out this week whether the book will come out in iPad format, which would include videos of the experiments. Very cool. For now, the book is available at stores, and Spangler will be putting on a show at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch.
Time wounds all heels
It’s the latest thing — guys running in heels. What would Manolo Blahnik say?
Men and women will make a brief dash in heels at the Denver Stiletto Race & Family 5K Oct. 2 at Elitch Gardens.
And Denver’s first Running of the Gays will be Sept. 26. The “marathon in heels” will go the three blocks from Steuben’s to JR’s and Hamburger Mary’s down East 17th Avenue starting at 11 a.m. You have to raise $250 for the cause, a creative support group for youth for LGBTQ. Register at .
Happy days
Getting married but can’t find a place or a reason? From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, head to the Denver Botanic Gardens for its first Wedding Showcase. You’ll see flowers, food, venues — and entertainers such as a harpist, an a cappella classical quartet, the Gypsy Swing Review (endorsed by Dick Kreck and Husted when the group plays Wednesday nights at the Irish Snug) and an accordion player. Who said weddings aren’t fun?
City spirit
Big Head Todd will play New Year’s Eve at the Paramount . . . Pair wine with Thai food from 2 to 5 p.m. Sept. 26 at Swing Thai, 4370 Tennyson St. . . . Sez who: “There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.” Lawrence Welk
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at /husted.
