UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

What is THE greatest fiction book that has ever been published?

J. Peder Zane, a book editor attempted to answer that question by asking 125 top British and American writers to name, in ranked in order, their 10 favourite books, hence the theory here was “the greatest writers would know best what are the greatest books”. Each book would get 10 points when it’s ranked number 1, 9 points when ranked number 2 and so on.

He then collated the results in a, what else, book called “The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books”, published 2007.

He asked luminaries like Andrea Barrett, Edwidge Danticat, Ha Jin, Reynolds Price, Tom Wolfet, Norman Mailer, Annie Proulx, Stephen King, Jonathan Franzen, Claire Messud, Margaret Drabble, Michael Chabon and Peter Carey.

The 125 produced a list of 544 books, but the resulting top ten is as follows… but wait! Don’t blame me if you end up sitting down so long without doing any exercise to read them that you forget all about your top 10 fat burners.

1. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (1878), which “tells parallel stories of an adulterous woman trapped by the conventions and falsities of society and of a philosophical landowner, who works alongside the peasants in the fields and seeks to reform their lives.” Published in several parts, over a 4-year period starting 1873 in a periodical. The front page of the first edition of the novel, published 1878:

Full text in English.

2. Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert (1857), the French writer, his first novel and masterpiece. It focuses on the adulterous doctor’s wife, Emma Bovary, who lives beyond her means to run away from “the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.” It is considered a seminal work of Realism.

Full text in English.

3. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (1869), an epic which describes in detail happenings that led up to Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia and its impact on society from the point of view of five Russian aristocratic families.

Full text in English.

4. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (1955), the top-ranked English novel and the top-ranked, and probably most controversial novel published in the 20th century. The very word “Lolita” has entered general consciousness to describe “a sexually precocious young girl.”

The rest of the top 10:

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
6. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust
9. The stories of Anton Chekhov
10. Middlemarch, by George Eliot

Looking at the list, it can be concluded that Russian Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is the greatest novelist who ever lived, with 2 of his masterpieces in the top three.

The only known colour photograph of the man himself in 1908 aged 80, 2 years before his death:

The top 3 novels were not written in English.

Shakespeare is the most-represented author; his best, Hamlet, placed 6th on the all-time list.

2nd ranked Madame Bovary made more lists (26) than top-ranked Anna Karenina (25) but 3rd ranked War and Peace ranked higher on its lists 11 more points than Madame Bovary.

Popularity: 1% [?]

“Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyun” or “Don’t Know Why” is not your usual “3 ekar” Bollywood movie. It is the Asian version of Brokeback Mountain, with “serious and explicit relationship between two men.”

Hmm… definitely controversial. And the actors must’ve been busy ensuring they’re in top cosmetic condition, a blackhead extractor one of the tools of the trade.

Promo poster:

Scheduled for release in May 2010, it fill feature the first male gay kiss in a mainstream Indian film, and the director, Sanjay Sharma expects it to pass through censors, because in 2009 a High Court ruling basically made homosexuality legal in India. Never mind that same-sex intimate relationships are still very much taboo in India, and Asia in general.

One of the male leads is played by Kapil Sharma (the director’s brother), who’s apparently straight, and had the following to say about the kissing scene:

Me and my co-actor were hesitant and feeling somewhat odd about the whole thing but the director told us to be sincere in our role. Added to that, during my first scene – a gay party – my parents turned up on set. I was wearing these hot shorts and a jacket. These drag queens were all around me so that was definitely very awkward. But, after three or four days I became immune to who was there.

The plot revolves around a male model who goes to Mumbai to seek his fortune, where he met, and starts a relationship with another guy.

Source

Popularity: 2% [?]

Without a doubt.

He joined Manchester United, one of the world’s top football clubs, in July 2005. As at the time of writing this, he has played for the team more than 90 times and scored 10 goals.

The 5’9″ dynamite winger/attacking midfielder’s achievements include:

- first Asian to ever captain Manchester United. Happened when captain Ryan Giggs passed the armband to him when he was substituted in a game against Lille OSC.
- captain of South Korea since October 2008.
- first Asian to play and win the Champions League, when he was named in the starting line-up against Barcelona in the 2009 final. In the 2007 final against Chelsea, he was left out of the squad.
- first Korean to win the Premier League (is he also the first Asian to win the Premier League?)
- first Asian to to win the Fifa Club World Cup
- was in the South Korean 2002 World Cup team as a 21-year old, where he scored a memorable match-winning goal against Portugal in the group stages. He controlled the ball with his chest, beat Sérgio Conceição then volleyed, with his left foot, through the legs of goalie Vitor Baia and into goal. That goal knocked favoured Portugal out of the tournament. Ultimately South Korea got as far as the semifinals, the best ever achievement by an Asian team at a World Cup.
- was in the South Korean 2006 World Cup team, when he scored the equaliser in the group match against eventual finalists France and was voted Man of the Match.
- is in the South Korean 2010 World Cup team, where he is the top scorer in their qualifying campaign. The team advanced to the finals without any defeats.

He has raised the bar much higher than previous Asian greats like Saeed Owairan (in 1994, scored one of the greatest goals in a World Cup, which earned him the title “The Maradona of the Arabs”), Khodadad Azizi, Ali Daei (the world’s all-time leading goalscorer in international matches), Hidetoshi Nakata, Majed “Desert Pele” Abdullah (the best football player in the history of Saudi Arabia), Kunishige Kamamoto, Kazuyoshi Miura (first Japanese recipient of the Asian Player of the Year award in 1993, first Japanese football superstar) and Cha Bum-Kun (Asia’s Player of the Century, all time leading goal scorer for the South Korean National team).

Whew, I’ve finished talking – and I’m announcing defeat – no matter how many times I’m reincarnated, I’ll never top Park’s achievement, and we know now all his footballing achievement. But life is more than football, perhaps I’d like to start by getting tips from him on how to treat acne!

Popularity: 3% [?]

In 2004, Bravo, the American cable television channel showcased its 100 Scariest Movie Moments, “the most bone-chilling moments in cinematic history” featuring interviews from “horror experts.” Then in 2006 the Chicago Film Critics Association released their list of the 100 Scariest Movies of All-Time.

World-renowned horror classics appear near the top in both lists, but the question remains: what is the scariest movie of all time?

Well, “The Exorcist” (1973) placed 3rd in Bravo’s list and 2nd in Chicago’s list, thus can be called the greatest scream-fest ever. It is rated 8.1/10 and the 186th greatest movie of all time at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Given the maximum 4 stars by renowned film reviewer Roger Ebert.

Trailer:

But wait, “Psycho” (1960) placed 4th in Bravo’s list but topped Chicago’s list, hence equal to the task. It is rated 8.7/10 and the 22nd greatest movie of all time at IMDB. Put in the “Great Movies” category by renowned film reviewer Roger Ebert. So if you consider IMDB as the tiebreaker, “Psycho” would be the most frightening film ever.

The infamous shower scene:

Meanwhile, “Jaws” (1975) which topped Bravo’s list only placed 6th in Chicago’s list. It is rated 8.3/10 and the 106th greatest movie of all time at IMDB.

Honourable mention goes to “Alien” (1979) which placed 2nd in Bravo’s list and 4th in Chicago’s list. It is rated 8.5/10 and the 46th greatest movie of all time at IMDB.

The abovenamed 4 are the only movies with a total placenumber of less than 10. Even the modern classic “Silence Of The Lambs” (1991) has a total placenumber of 22.

Personally, I have watched all five, and found “The Exorcist” to be the one I wouldn’t want to watch alone on televisions at night.

Source
Bravo’s full list
Chicago’s full list

Popularity: 4% [?]

Now this is a company team list with a difference.

Berbay Corporation was established in 1995 and specialises in marketing and public relations, working with legal, financial, real estate, professional service and B2B firms.

In their team list, apart from the 6-member “Account Team” they also have 3 CEOs. Wait, you ask, why do they have THREE CEOs? It only makes sense if you discover that the CEOs are 3 dogs named Hunter, Hamlet and Halo, and that CEO here stands for Canine Efficiency Officer.

Screenshot:

I don’t think this will be found in most other company websites.

If it’s any clue, all of them are women: I suppose they’re game for over the counter prenatal vitamins?

I am not sure if putting man’s best friends on an official publication is a good idea – what do you think?

Source

Popularity: 1% [?]

In January 2009 I mentioned that Sabahans are the world’s most inventive name-makers, based on their children’s names listed in school rolls.

Fast forward a year, as usual I looked at the latest list of new students (Standard I), and unearthed some gems.

The following are totally unique, even mighty google doesn’t have them!

Gretcxine:

Freswyn, which surprised me, because that seemed a perfectly normal name:

Oddelshonn:

Do you know of any other person with Shermieko as his or her first name?

Welldino:

Aedryan got lah, but Aeldryan?

Berbbay:

Still, at least they don’t name their kids after pond filters!

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 12 March 2010

Then there’s the case of Lee Jin-gyu, 28 of Korea who recently “married” his pillow which features an image of Fate Testarossa, a girl in the anime series Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha:

In a stunning wedding ceremony, he even equipped the pillow with a white wedding dress:

A friend was quoted to have said:

He is completely obsessed with this pillow and takes it everywhere. They go out to the park or the funfair where it will go on all the rides with him. Then when he goes out to eat he takes it with him and it gets its own seat and its own meal.

Video:

Source:
Metro UK, 9th March 2010

————————————————————————

13 January 2010

This is probably the most bizarre “marriage” ever, if it can even be called that.

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer (born 1954) of Sweden was reported in 2008 to have claimed that she has been married to the Berlin Wall since 1979.

Yes, THE Berlin Wall in Germany, which was demolished in 1989.

Eija-Riitta with her then-boyfriend in 1978:

How is that even possible, you ask? Well, apparently she has this condition called “objectùm-sexual” (OS), where basically it’s a fetish for a non-living object. In fact, those with this condition would be horrified to even entertain the thought of having a relationship with a real person.

Apparently, there are about 40 persons in the world who are OS, all women.

She explains this condition in detail here.

In her own words:

I find long, slim things with horizontal lines very sexy. The Great Wall of China’s attractive, but he’s too thick – my husband is sexier.

Excerpts from her website:

This is my husband. His name is the Berlin Wall and he was born on August 13, 1961. I expect you’ve heard of him; he is quite a celebrity. He lives in Berlin. …My husband’s job was to divide East and West Berlin. He is retired now. We’ve been in love for many years. I was attracted to him ever since he was born. Yes, he is some years younger than me. But neither of us feels that this age difference matters. True love can easily transcend a few years. It was very much a long distance romance as neither of us likes to travel. For much of the time, I had to make do with photos of him. And of course seeing him in newspapers and on the television. But the distance between us only served to intensify our feelings for each other. We eventually married on June 17, 1979 at Groß-Ziethener Straße in Berlin. On that day I took my husband’s name, Berliner-Mauer. That is “Berlin Wall” in German, which is my husband’s first language. We have been together now for many years, spiritually if not physically. Like every married couple, we have our ups and downs. We even made it through the terrible disaster of November 9, 1989, when my husband was subjected to frenzied attacks by a mob. But we are still as much in love as the day we first met. We may not have a conventional marriage, but neither of us cares much for conventions. Ours is a story of two beings in love, our souls entwined for all eternity.

It was on her 6th visit that they “tied the knot”, complete with wedding guests.

On that fateful day in 1989, she said: “What they did was awful. They mutilated my husband.”

Nowadays, she is apparently in love with a garden fence near her home.

Then there’s Erika La Tour Eiffel, 39, of San Francisco, a former soldier who married the Eiffel Tower in 2008:

Before settling down with the world-famous structure, she had flings with an archer’s bow and a piece of fence that was kept in her room.

Hmm… on the positive side, at least these women’s “husbands” would never pester them to go on a weight loss diet.

Source
Telegraph (UK), 4 Jun 2008

Popularity: 2% [?]

The following ladies have been dubbed the most beautiful woman who ever lived at one time or another in articles and surveys. Obviously it will be difficult to pinpoint ONE woman with certainty that she is/was definitely the most attractive member of the human female species who ever walked the earth. You take your pick.

Helen of Troy, “the face that launched a thousand ships”, although whether she really existed is debatable.

Cleopatra VII (69 BC – 30 BC), who is generally depicted as “a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world’s most powerful men are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.”

Queen Nefertiti (circa 1370 BC – circa 1330 BC), the chief consort of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

Greta Garbo (1905-1990, Swedish actress): in 1954, 13 years after her last movie, she was named the most beautiful woman who ever lived by none other than the Guinness Book of World Records.

Others which have been mentioned include the following, all with figures so enviable they might never need to look up slimming products at fdaapproveddietpills.net.

Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Ava Gardener
Sophia Loren
Elizabeth Taylor
Grace Kelly (1929-1982)
Claudia Schiffer
Rita Hayworth
Natalie Wood
Vivien Leigh
Aishwarya Rai
Catherine Deneuve
Raquel Welch
Sharon Tate

Popularity: 7% [?]

Impatiens psittacina, or more commonly known as “parrot flower” is a very rare species of balsam that was first discovered in upper Myanmar (then Burma) by A.H. Hildebrand in the late 1890s, and first described by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1901.

Note that “very rare” phrase, a total opposite of “daily deals.”

It is known to exist naturally in a small region in northern Thailand (near Chiang Mai), Myanmar and in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur.

Its most striking feature is unquestionably its flowers that looks like a parrot or a cockatoo in flight when looked at from the side.

Source
Snopes.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

The most challenging job in the world today could very well be running the navy of one of the world’s most lawless and pirate-infested nations, Somalia.

Jobs in IT? That’s easy peasy in comparison!

But salute to Farah Ahmed Omar for grimly soldiering on despite all the odds.

He has been the navy chief since 1982.

Other sailors will be shocked to hear that for a person who’s supposed to be patrolling the sea, he has not been to sea for 23 years!

Nor does he have any boats or related equipment.

And instead of splashing about at sea, training for recruits will be classroom-only, for obvious reasons.

Somalia used to be among the top navies in Africa with 10 battalions. However it has not been operational since the country descended into chaos in 1991.

There are patrols at sea but they are not enough to deter the pirates.

International aid is scant due to funds tending to “disappear down a black hole.”

And apparently “some of the people trained to tackle piracy as coastguards became pirates themselves”!

Source
The BBC, 16 June 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Flexible Love is probably the world’s most amazing chair, made in Taiwan & designed by Chishen Chiu.

Made of honeycombed recycled paper, virgin kraft paper and post-industrial wood waste.

Words alone cannot describe the coolness:

Rearranging it looks like a good workout, as good as one of thosemuscle builders.

Here’s a video of people actually sitting on it:

There’s the intriguingly named FlexibleLove Virgin 20 model that can sit up to 16 people (priced at USD549), which, starting from 25cm wide can be extended to 9 metres! It weighs 25kg and can support 1,920 kg; meaning the average weight of the 16 people can be 120 kg!

The cheapest model sells for around USD30.

How to order.

Popularity: 1% [?]