UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

There might have been more inspirational stories, but this one is played out right in front of thousands of visitors and untold millions (billions) more on TV around the globe.

It was the 400m semifinals of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Derek Redmond, 26 of Great Britain might not have been a gold medal contender, but he then held the British national record of 44.5 seconds, and at this Olympics he’d made it as far as the semis, and a top 4 finish would’ve assured him a place in the final.

4 years earlier, at the 1988 Seoul Olympiad, he’d been forced to withdraw a mere 10 minutes before the start due to an Achilles tendon injury. It took 5 surgeries over the next year to fix it.

So you can imagine how much he wanted to make the final this time.

This is what happened:

(more…)

It’s a Swiss-made prefabricated construction situated on top of a building in downtown Paris, as part of an art installation. Yes, you the guest is part of the exhibit.

And no matter how much money you’ve got, they’ll only ever allow you to say one night for about USD600.

Breakfast can be delivered, and in direct contrast to other hotels, taking of the golden embroidered bath towels are actually not just allowed, but rather encouraged!

What it looks like from from the outside

Click here to see more pictures

Mario Philippona, architect, sculptor, designer, cabinet and furniture maker. He works exclusively on wood, and creates the world’s sexiest, and provocative wooden furnitures. In other words, quite a lot of females will bash him for the “objectification of the female form.” Yes, these furniture look like they’re on a steady dose of Anoretix.

The following is called a Pame-la (I wonder why?). It’s supposed to be “an accessory piece with a drawer.”

Then, imagine having THIS as your dinner table. Definite conversation point.

If the above is your dinner table, imagine using this type of chair:

Click here to see more photos

Dennis Reggie

Denis Reggie is a 25-year veteran in this arena. Based in Atlanta, he became famous for a new style of wedding photography called “wedding photojournalism.” He’s shot hundreds of celebrity weddings, and probably took the most famous wedding photograph of all time - that of John Kennedy Jr. to Carolyn Bessette - the groom kissing the bride’s hand as they step out of the one-room church where the ceremony was held:

Reggie described it in his own words:

They asked me to release just one picture of the wedding that I thought told the story, only one and it was to be my choice. There was a special energy about the moment. It’s one that I actually had to take in silhouette because it was a very dark island, no electricity for miles and there were candlelight’s only. I am focusing on her silhouette and I noticed that John had reached for her hand to bring her hand to his lips and I thought: ” gosh what a wonderful moment”. And I’m thinking in slow motion, although they were moving pretty quickly and I was able to get that one picture off with my Hasselblad and it was a moment for me that said it all. It’s one that that was later to be used on over a thousand covers of magazines and newspapers and it was a great honor. Of course it was a bittersweet as well because of their tragic demise three years later and that moment will always be a happy moment.

Hundreds of celebrity weddings. A thousand magazine covers. Hasselblad camera.

Top that!

Joe Buissink

Joe Buissink of Beverly Hills. Question: What’s so special about him? Answer: None other than Annie Leibovitz has hired him, not once but twice: to shoot her sister’s wedding, then to shoot her cousin’s. If you didn’t know, Leibovitz is the USA’s most famous photographer, who took many famous photos, amongst them Demi Moore’s pregnant and naked photos in Vanity Fair, Cyndi Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual” and “True Colors” album covers, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” album cover, Gisele Bündchen and LeBron James on the April 2008 cover of Vogue America and Miley Cyrus’ controversial Vanity Fair photo in which she appeared to be semi-nude.

Having said that, in the past more than 10 years Buissink himself has shot weddings almost the same number of celebrities as Leibovitz, including for Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez.

Jerry Ghionis

Jerry Ghionis, based in Australia has won two “Album of the Year” awards at the prestigious annual Wedding & Portrait Photographers International convention, where he’s been the winningest photographer of the last four years. Although based in Australia, he draws huge crowds in the U.S. as a speaker.

Kevin Kubota

When Kevin Kubota charged USD10,000 per wedding a few years ago, and still people hired him. He even has his own line of Photoshop add-ons, Kubota Image Tools.

That’s it. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading my list of photographers whose creations are worth our picture frames.

Source

Have you seen a better and more innovative haircut? Add to that clothing in reverse, and you get a rather eerie effect.

Someone commented that it’s the best Halloween costume idea ever.

The face looks a bit like The Edge of U2 right?

Source

Who would’ve thought.

Students at West Kent College in Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom are now prohibited from harassing builders working at the campus.

Yes, that specifically points to female students.

The notice was sent via email and read as follows: “It has come to the attention of the college that some female students have been making comments to, or whistling at, the builders both whilst on site and as they walk around the campus. Although we are sure no offence is meant, this constitutes harassment and is wholly unacceptable. We have asked the contractors’ representative to pass on all instances of harassment to the college and we will take appropriate action which may include disciplinary action.”

I wonder if such happenings will ever take place in an Asian country?!

Source

Nudibranchs are related to snails, but they do not have any shell. Like snails, their bodies are soft. Unlike snails, they are blind, and hence have to rely on their senses of smell, taste and feel to get around.

However, their most outstanding feature is their vivid colours with unbelievable palettes.

Organisms of the sea, they are relatively small, usually measuring between 2cm and 6cm in length.

They can be found in all the seas of the world, from the deepest to the shallowest parts of it.

Their lifespan is 1 year.

There are more than 3,000 known species, only half of which have been discovered.

They eat coral, sponges, eggs, small fish, and yes, other nudibranchs too.

Some photos of nudibranchs:

Click here to see more pictures

And hence probably the last song you’d expect these world-famous vocalists to sing at their concerts. But they did! As expected, all of these performances received very mixed reviews.

But first off, last year I mentioned U2 covering ABBA’s Dancing Queen. That was pretty surreal, but there’s more.

Tell me what you think of the following.

Celine Dion & Anastacia performed AC/DC’s “You shook me all night long”, apparently described by Guitar Magazine as the worst cover of all time. Commenters particularly took offence with Celine duckwalking and having violins as accompaniment:

Still, some people said Shania Twain’s cover of the same song is worse:

Click here to see the video

UPDATED 16th July 2008, 11:05pm

The topic could also read: the most-blogged topic in the history of the Malaysian blogosphere.

On one corner: Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, 50
On the other corner: PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, 61
Moderator: former Utusan Malaysia editor-in-chief, NST columnist and Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka chairperson Datuk Johan Jaafar
Other panelists: Current affairs weekly Siasah editor Zulkifli Sulong & Universiti Utara Malaysia vice-chancellor Nordin Kardi.
Topic: “Form a government today, fuel prices will decrease tomorrow”
Format: Both debaters stood on a stage, similar set-up to the US presidential debate, started session with each presenting a 4-minute opening statement, which was then followed by questions from the 3-member panel (moderator & the 2 panelists). Then, both debaters were given the chance to ask each other one question. Debate ends with 90-second wrap-up speech.
Date: 15th July 2008 (Tuesday)
Place: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur
Time: 9pm
Duration: 1 hour
Live airing: 3 TV channels on Astro (TV9 - ASTRO Channel 119, Astro Awani - ASTRO Ch 501 & Bernama TV - ASTRO Ch 502), IP Global TV, countless blogs, none from RTM or TV3.
Official results: The organisers did not declare a winner.
Youtube video: (55 minutes, 8 parts)

Transcript: by Anil Netto, by 5xmom

But what does the blogosphere think?

In the hours following the debate, there were many opinions and polls posted online

Blog opinions

There is the win-win notion that the winner is “the people”, but for purists like me, I still want the old “win-lose”:

…saying Anwar won

Peter Tan
Marina Mahathir
Mindful Mariner
5xmom
Anak Merdeka
Rohaizad
The Flaccid Mind
Alam Kekal
Jacksonlim.com
Gnome’s Place
Lionel
Limadang
Walking in a circle
Stocktube
Cinematic Concerns
Kecek-Kecek Tok Mudin 3.0
A Particle of Boredom
Psittacula
Merah Tinta MSO
Jahilgoblog
Kerajaan Rakyat
Kembara pencinta buku
Kembara minda
jelas.info
Roti Kacang Merah

…saying Shabery won

A comment at malaysiakini by A Star Is Born:

Cringe did I when I first heard news of the Anwar vs Shabery debate. I pictured either a massive reaming for the BN speaker or a repeat Syed Hamid’s fumbling buffoonery a la ‘Hard Talk’. In fact I didn’t want to watch but was dragged in front of the telly. All day the general feeling was that Shabery was going to get creamed because Anwar is probably the best and most charismatic speaker in Malaysian politics today. Sort of like watching David vs. Goliath.

My frown though, soon turned into a smile as Shabery began his rebuttal and by the end of the debate I was clapping enthusiastically at the TV. He wasn’t as eloquent as Anwar but he was confident, calm, concise and even managed to crack a joke or two. Most importantly, he was never rattled and could deliver his points (though I would suggest a glass of water or a tissue for him the next time).

Honestly, Anwar won as far as public speaking and showmanship went. That, after all, is his strong point. But on facts and actual answers to the questions put forward, Shabery came out on top. I’m sure by populist vote Anwar would be the winner but even in that event, his supporters have to admit that it was far from a landslide victory.

…saying it’s a draw

Wong Chun Wai
The_Earthinc

… was not conclusive

Paul Tan
Blood-Suckers
Drill & Grill

Still, my favourite review is this one by Chan Kok Leong at malaysiakini:

As for the debate itself, it was not quite a walkover by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim. Shabery, who is younger by 11 years, managed to hold his ground against the 61-year-old seasoned politician known for his fiery oratory skills. Looking sharp in an all-black suit with gold buttons, the minister cut a picture of confidence as he fielded questions from the former deputy premier and the panel.

However, many felt Anwar emerged victorious in the debate while others pointed out that the duo had merely skimmed the surface of such a complex subject within the allocated one hour.

While Anwar stuck to his guns by promising immediate slashing of the fuel price by 50 sen and the failure of the Barisan Nasional government to address leakages and corruption, Shabery defended the hike with the “world phenomenon” argument.

At times, Shabery even resorted to personal attacks, recounting the days when Anwar was in government. The Terengganu-born minister used up precious minutes in the hour-long debate to question Anwar’s record as finance minister, especially the lopsided independent power producer (IPP) agreements and the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis during his watch.

One particular failure of the minister was his inability to answer Anwar’s appointed panelist, Siasah editor Zukifli Sulong’s question on why the government has not improved public transportation after the 2006 petrol hike as promised.

But Anwar himself also fell a bit short in some areas. His main point of re-negotiating IPP agreements to recover RM2 billion and to use that to subsidise fuel cannot be considered as a long-term solution.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad, who was part of the audience, questioned the argument. “Even if the IPP agreements were re-negotiated, the additional income is Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s, not the government’s,” he said after the debate.

“It still doesn’t solve the issue of higher fuel prices and the higher subsidies which the government has to bear,” he added.

Despite their different political affiliations, both debaters behaved well, though the same could not be said about their respective supporters in the hall, who shouted and booed during the debate.

However, outside Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, some 200 PKR supporters kept their cool under the watchful eyes of police personnel.

There may have been no winners tonight but there were 25 million Malaysians who no doubt would have taken a liking to a new phenomenon - live political debates on TV.

Poll results

Anil Netto’s poll: as of 16th July, 12:34am, Anwar leads 369-12.

Malaysiakini polls results: the poll went live right after the debate ended, lasted for 12 hours and ended at 10am on 16th July. At 12:40pm, the results were published: almost 96 percent said that Anwar won: 17,240-1,444.

Blood-Suckers: as of 16th July, 12:43am, Anwar leads 3-0.
Drill & Grill: as at 16th July, 1:10am, 2-2.
Penang & Malaysia: as at 16th July, 1:23am, Anwar leads 243-6.

Quotable quotes

Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, on reports that he personally attacked Anwar:

I did not attack him personally. I only talked about his policies and his leadership so as to question his credibility. It wasn’t a personal attack, but when he was a deputy finance minister, his methods were not even humanist. Now he is talking about humanism. I just wanted to show people his leadership record. Do not get me wrong on this one. When he said I was in Semangat 46, it was a personal attack.

The purpose of the debate was not to show who was better between [us], but to raise politics to another level. It showed that both of us could deliver our messages on the matter. Most importantly, we proved that we can debate in a cordial manner and are not afraid to do so.

Sources
NST
The Star
Malaysiakini (subscription based)

After disappearing from the blogosphere for months, the man dubbed “Malaysia’s first and last drug blogger” is back. In fact, he claimed that his blog was “the first totally non-anonymous drug blog in the world with photos and videos of myself using (drugs).”

Poh Huai Bin, 27 of sixthseal.com’s first entry in a long time was dated 28th March 2008 with the title “Hail to the King, Baby!,” complete with an image of him drinking straight from a bottle and a single line:

Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead.

IMHO, he should also be called Malaysia greatest and bravest, or even perhaps most reckless blogger who ever lived, so much so that top local paper The Star ran a feature on him on the 12th of July 2008.

Back then, in a post dated 30th August 2006 he eloquently described his suicide attempt (slit his wrists), which prompted responses such as this:

Let me, someone just a bit older than you and someone who has seen some shit in my time on this planet, break it down for you. In order of least stupid to most stupid, here goes:

1. wanting to kill yourself (can happen to almost anyone)
2. trying to kill yourself (if you succeed, then much respect –you’re a success)
3. trying poorly to kill yourself
4. making goodbye calls or writing notes prior to trying poorly to kill yourself
5. failing in an attempt to kill yourself
6. telling anyone who doesn’t have to know about it that you tried poorly to kill yourself and failed
7. posting about trying poorly to kill yourself and failing on your public blog

I have enjoyed your blog until now. Now I know that you are a sad attention-seeker. What you did is the sort of thing we expect from some spoiled, rich 16 year old girl here in the USA. It’s a terrible disgrace for a man to behave like this. It’s the opposite of going out like James Dean –which is actually pretty stupid too.

I don’t know how long you have been using drugs at a serious level. What I see is someone who may have stunted his psycho-social development at the teenage years.

Kill the blog. Get off the stage. Get some help now. Life is not like a movie. Behave like an adult. In the event you try this shit again, go vertically on the wrists. A warm bath will help stop coagulation. And don’t do it in a hospital. Killing yourself is so damn easy –how could you screw it up?

… and this:

JUST DIE, next time get a saw and saw your hand off… there are so many danterous equipments in ICU JUST grap those things they use to cut bones. CUT both your hands… or better still your legs… OR HEAD! OR STAB YOUR HEART! JUST DIE ALREADY!

If you choose the path of death to escape, do it properly. If you really wanted to die you would have died. You want to live, that is why you did what you did.

WHY? ultimately all of us reject death, we want to live. But for your disrespect for life just DIE!

DO drugs and be proud of it… get a life, quit your job la if you want to die earn money for what?!

haiii… you don’t need GOD you neeed some good time lock up in a padded cell… or a cozy mountain cottage… or monestery. Get away from humanity, be away be quite DON”T even talk while you are away… and just set a date, survive for 3months. Then decide if you want to die. IF you do then make sure you die properly. Buy insurance for parents to make 100’s of thousand form your death… hahahahah [of course after checking life insurance rates]

Of course there were many detailed explanations of drugs use: how he got them, and what he felt, complete with timestamps, but probably the one that stood out was the time he described in vivid detail his experiences (or rather Veritas’ experience) with heroin. It was posted on 25th January 2003. About half an hour after snorting about 25mg of heroin he described the feeling:

this just feels so good. it’s not like other drugs, its not the ecstatic happiness of MDMA (feels like you’re about to go on a really good vacation you’re really looking forward to), it’s not like stimulants where you go “fuck i can take on the world!!!”, this is like a comfortable, very comfortable feeling that you lose as soon as you go into puberty. its an innocent sort of comfortable where the best thing is that you’re feeling comfortable and safe and warm in your house. and that’s all that matters, nothing can hurt you. its the feeling of picnics and reading books and eating cheese cake and nice weather and mom taking care of you when you’re sick and i’ve got it! its the feeling of being a kid, where there are no real problems, only little ones, and you don’t need to do anything, you just hang around and feel comfortable and they’re parents there to take care of you. damn, thats what it feels like. return to childhood. its the feeling of waking up on a saturday morning to the smell of french toast and you just lie around in bed waiting for your mom to call you down to eat breakfast and you’ve had a great nites sleep and the only thing you want to do is read a good book, a safe book where there are no great problems and everything turns out to be okay in the end. jesus, you just don’t get this feeling anymore after you grow up. no wonder people get addicted to this shit. it’s really comfortable.

I think it’s 100% confirmed that Kenny Sia will never ever do posts like the two above…

But for those expecting the same old fireworks this time, there’d be disappointment. Although he still uses his existing domain, all his drugs-related posts are gone. He said he was asked to remove them by the Narcotics Division “as part of his appeal for a reduced charge.”

Nowadays, he blogs about anything but drugs. But perhaps that’s a good thing because back then I wondered whether he’d make it alive at all.

At the peak of his powers then, he was up to 13,000 unique visitors a day.

Sometime in 2007 it was gone.

In his recent interview, he was reported to have said:

My problems with drugs and alcohol were spiralling out of control since my early twenties and it started to affect my personal life in visible ways. I was admitted to ICU once for renal (kidney) failure and had an emergency dialysis done through a vein in my throat. I was in the ICU for a week and suffered permanent liver and kidney damage. I have also been hospitalised for overdosing and suicide attempts. I wasn’t in a good frame of mind and it was decided that something needed to be done before I killed myself.

It was then that he went to a drug rehabilitation programme in Kuala Lumpur that was supposed to last a month but it didnt work. He tried again: failed again. Then he tried for a 3rd time:

I was sent to a third drug rehabilitation centre, which was a little bit more restrictive than I imagined. I was stripped naked and forced to wear a sarong in addition to being handcuffed and shackled (even during bowel movements) due to escape attempts. The punishment for escaping was being restrained in a jail cell and I only had The Bible for companionship then. Food was sent in through a tray with plastic utensils and I was in serious withdrawal and bored to death.

Apparently it worked, and how he’s blogging again, albeit about healthier topics.

He claimed that sixthseal.com was not a drug blog but rather “promotion of harm reduction and drug education via self-experimentation and use.” Personally, I doubt the authorities would take kindly to this explanation!

His advice to blogging pretenders:

Don’t get into trouble with the law with photos of yourself with the Big Two – drugs and sex. You can write a controversial article, get in the limelight, and then fade away. No one would even remember you, it’s just a matter of time before someone out there gets you.

Source
The Star, 12th July 2008