UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

UPDATE:

Apparently there are other pink dolphins elsewhere in the world, it’s just that they’re quite rare.

—————————————

An albino dolphin was spotted in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.

Its colour: stunning pink throughout its body.

It also has reddish eyes.

Apparently it’s the only member of its family like that.

It appears to be healthy and normal other than obviously its colour.

Regina Asmutis-Silvia, a senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, was quoted to have said she has never seen a dolphin which looks like that in all her career.

Source
The Telegraph (UK), 9 Mar 2009

Actually not real teeth, but bone.

The “Dracula fish” is relatively tiny: only 17mm (0.7 inches) long.

Currently it has only been found at one place in the world: a Burmese stream.

Researchers believe the fish originally had teeth, lost it over millenia, then evolved those twin fangs.

Its scientific name is the very apt Danionella Dracula.

The fish when looked at from a distance:

When looked at in more detail:

Source
The BBC, 11 Mar 2009

Or perhaps a more apt description is a presentation that evokes the highest levels of drama or involves the highest level of personal participation.

Event: Annual Symposium of the Urodynamics Society of the American Urological Association
Year: 1983
Place: Las Vegas

In brief, a Professor Dr Giles Brindley, a British physiologist showed his erect penis to a roomful of fellow doctors, even coming down off the stage, walked along the aisle, and inviting the audience to inspect it!

Of all the ways your bartender could possible choose to open a bottle of your favourite beer, what could be the most outlandish?

A helicopter could be it, and in Japan, as I think only the Japanese could ever think up such a stunt.

It’s the Cobra Whiskey of Vietnam.

I’ve even seen one advertised with a cobra AND a scorpion in the same bottle.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is the cheap price: apparently costing a mere 250K VND (less than USD 20) at Ben Thanh Market.

I saw someone post a video of them drinking it and then EATING the cobra inside.

Would you dare even to drink it?

Source

… if you want to finish one whole bottle on your own you better go for one of those beach vacation rentals so that you have all day or two to recover …

Ugly Bat Boy, 8 lives at Exeter Veterinary Hospital in New Hampshire. The owner, vet Dr Stephen Bassett says the only thing abnormal about him is that he’s, well, uglier than most cats: bald, except for a lion-like “mane” on his chest. It seems like all his fur decided to migrate to his neck and surrounding areas.

UBB was part of a litter of 4. 2 of them looked like other cats, but UBB had a sister that looked exactly like him. Unfortunately, she died after a few weeks.

Needless to say, UBB is a local celebrity.

He looks really weird:

… Ugly is definitely ugly:

I think I’d scream if Ugly looked at me in the morning:

Video of the cat in action:

Source
Photos courtesy of WMUR9

Update 22 April 2009

Mary Ellen Hause went to jail because of Facebook.

—————————-

Be careful what you write on Facebook.

It can be very bad for you.

Ask Kimberley Swann and Edward Richardson.

On 23 February, Swann, 16 of Clacton, Essex was fired from her job after she updated her Facebook status to:

Kimberley Swann thinks her job is boring.

She also apparently added:

It’s s***. All I do is shred, holepunch and scan paper.

Ms Swann

On the day of reckoning she was summoned by the manager and given a letter which said:

Following your comments on Facebook about the company we feel it is better that, as you are not happy, we end your employment.

She’d been working at Ivell Marketing & Logistics for all of 3 weeks.

Her boss, Steve Ivell defended his decision:

Her display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable. Ivell Marketing is a small, close-knit family company and it is very important that all the staff work together in harmony. Had Miss Swann put up a poster on the staff notice board making the same comments and invited other staff to read it there would have been the same result.

She retorted by saying:

You shouldn’t really be hassled outside work. It was only a throw-away comment. I was not given a chance to explain.

She wrote the remark after coming home from work. Somebody then told her employer about it.

Still, what she endured is nothing compared to what Edward Richardson did on 12th May 2008.

Mr Richardson

In what could be the world’s first Facebook murder, Richardson, 41 of Mayfield Road, Biddulph, became enraged when his estranged wife Sarah, 26 changed her marital status on Facebook to “single”. He went to see her at her parents’ home as she was ignoring his messages. He broke the front door window, found Sarah in her bedroom and stabbed her to death with a knife.

The late Sarah Richardson

He then tried to commit suicide.

He was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 17 years in jail.

So folks, think carefully before you update your status next time.

Presenting the TwoDaLoo.

The makers say:

It brings couples closer together and conserves our water supply all with one flush. The TwoDaLoo features two side-by-side toilet seats with a modest privacy wall in between. An upgraded version includes a seven inch LCD television and iPod docking station.

In some parts of Asia (and of course other parts of the world too) the wife is expected to do heavy housework, tending to buffaloes, working in the paddy fields etc etc

Before her car accident on 10th February 2009 in which she lost all her nails, Lee Redmond, 68 of Salt Lake City, Utah wouldn’t have be able to do that since she had the world’s longest fingernails, each almost 3 feet in length.

She last cut her nails in 1979 (30 years ago!).

Despite this she’s able to do things like riding a bike, driving a car, vacuuming, doing the dishes and giving haircuts.

In the accident, she was thrown out of her SUV in a 4-car pile up and now is in serious condition, although her life is not in danger.

Get well soon Lee.

… discount lingerie anyone?

It was reported on 11th Feb 2009 that The Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, is “in the final stages” of making a soft drink made of cow urine.

Seriously.

And they intend to make the product compete with Pepsi or Coke.

Right.

It will be called “gau jal” (in Sanskrit), meaning “cow water”.

How appetizing.

The guys in charge said not to worry, it won’t smell like pee. And it will taste good too. Oh, it won’t have any toxins either, unlike those of the evil US.

The drink is made by mixing urine with “a few medicinal and ayurvedic herbs.”

Good luck.

It was reported in early February 2009 that a 68-year old South Korean grandmother has failed her driving test 771 times, but amazingly, she has not given up, and is gearing up for her 772nd test.

She’s only known by her last name Cha. Her full name is not revealed to “protect her from public ridicule.”

More amazing reported facts:
- She’s been trying since 2005
- She took the tests almost every day

It should be noted that she has not arrived at the actual driving itself - she failed at the written part of the exam, averaging 30 to 50%. Passing mark is 60%.

Her motivation for getting the license is to enable her to more easily operate her business.

Police estimate that she has spend almost USD3,600 on the tests.

Source
Daily Mail UK

I don’t know if this is authentic, a PR ploy or an early April Fool’s prank, but apparently Louise Grant, 25, of Manchester, Britain is a bar manager with a very peculiar habit: using Facebook to hook up with total strangers for sex.

Among her claims:
- she’s been doing this for the last 3 years
- she has slept with 200 men she met online
- she sleeps with a different man every 5 days.
- her record is 3 men in 24 hours.

Why does she do it?

She reportedly explains thus:

I can’t explain the buzz I get from meeting someone for the first time and knowing that in a couple of hours we’ll be ripping each other’s clothes off. It’s addictive. A lot of women may call me a slag, but I’m not. The sex is on my terms — I call the shots.

What a slag lady, is she for real?

… does she look like she’s in need of some Fentraphen?

The Star reported on 17th December 2008 that Che Ibrahim Che Abdullah, 57, a grocery shop owner in Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia has the perfect anti-theft system for his house-cum-grocery-shop.

For starters, it’s absolutely free.

Second, it’s so good that the would-be burglar would end up begging you for forgiveness.

So the next logical question is: how does one go about installing the system?

Answer: Ask God to protect your house when you’re away.

That’s all!

At least that’s what Che Ibrahim claimed he did.

He said every time he left the house empty to return to his village in another state someone would break in.

So this time he decided he had had enough; before leaving in early December 2008, he recited some prayers asking for “divine intervention.”

And no, it’s not sorcery, he added.

When he returned to his shop a few days later, he found a 36-year old man lying in a room in his house: hungry, thirsty and taumatised.

The man apparently said:
- he’d broken into the house 3 days earlier.
- once inside, he was at once blinded and “the place felt like a cave”
- every escape attempt would be thwarted by a “supernatural being” who would push him to the ground
- nobody could hear his screams for help
- since then, he’s been mysteriously trapped there
- please forgive me!!!

Now, wouldn’t you agree that’d make a perfect security system for your car or house?

Source
The Star (Malaysia), 17th Dec 2008

… He might not even need things like bathroom safety products …

…is the octopus.

It has probably nature’s greatest camouflage ability.

According to wikipedia:

An octopus’s camouflage is aided by certain specialized skin cells which can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectiveness of the epidermis. Chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colors, while some have two or four. Other color-changing cells are reflective iridophores, and leucophores (white).

Here’s a video of it in action:

It can escape through very small holes:

… 2009 is the year of the Ox, but even top-of-the-range cattle supplies won’t make it the world’s most amazing animal …

If anything can be worse than murdering your own wife, it’s asking her to get another, younger woman’s hand in marriage ON YOUR BEHALF, then beating her up for failing to do so.

In yet another demonstration that truth is indeed stranger than fiction, on 24th October 2008, a 57-year old security guard in Kuantan (Malaysia) ordered his 60-year old wife to go see a 30+ year old woman he fancied and tell her: please agree to be my husband’s second wife, if not, I’m dead.

Most stories would’ve stopped right there, for it’s surely something unthinkable for 99.99999% of married men out there to ask such things of their wife. If they did, they’d be joking, or suicidal.

But apparently he is an alpha male, someone so domineering, someone with a Joseph Fritzl-like persona, that his wife obeyed the crazy request without question.

[And one can rightly ask: if he's the typical macho man, why didn't he go ask the younger woman himself?]

The man then waited anxiously, pacing back and forth, anticipating the “good news” at their home.

However, the younger woman said: so sorry, but I’m already happily married.

So the wife went home and told the husband the bad news. Instead of saying “oh I didn’t know she’s married; never mind, I’ll find another lady for you to approach,” he became white-hot angry with his wife. Apparently, he didn’t care if the younger woman was already married or not, he wanted his wife to sort everything out so that he could STILL get married to her.

Must be a hot, Gemma Atkinson-type woman huh? Nevermind if she’s already hitched.

Back to topic: amazing husband or what?

The guy then started to beat his wife up for her ineffectiveness in achieving his primary objective.

And if that’s STILL not enough punishment, he threatened to slit her throat with a parang (a huge knife).

No, that’s not good enough: he then tried to shoot her with a shotgun!

Of course you can’t blame the poor woman to flee to one of their son’s house nearby and from there, to a police station to lodge a report.

He has since been arrested.

Source
The Star, 29th October 2008

Update 5th October 2008

The Star reported that:
- a 15-year-old girl, sister of “A”, who also took part in the “ritual cleansing” and was knocked unconscious, underwent surgery yesterday then put in ICU, plus police monitoring. She had suffered multiple head, facial and bodily injuries.
- both families are followers of the banned deviant group Al-Arqam;
- A claimed that he had received wahyu (divine revelation) that he could cure people and was recently sacked by Kuala Lumpur City Hall for indiscipline.

——————————–

I think of all happenings during the first few days of Hari Raya in the history of Malaysia, nothing was, or will ever be as crazy as this.

It was reported in The Star on 2nd October 2008 that in the morning of the first day of Hari Raya, a family of five, Mohd Ibrahim Kader Mydin, 47, his wife Rosina S.M. Mydin Pillay, 41 and their 3 children, 2 boys aged 19 & 14 and a 21-year old daughter did what everybody would do on Hari Raya: visit relatives.

They went to Ibrahim’s brother’s flat in Kuala Lumpur, where his brother, wife and 4 children aged 8 to 23 were waiting.

Everything was hunky dory until the conversation turned to a dream.

From the newspaper report, I have reconstructed the possible things that could’ve been said:

One of Ibrahim’s nephews, age 23 (let’s call him A): You know, I had a dream recently, where I was told that I have the power to heal other people’s illnesses and problems.

Police: Arrest these 8 people, including these 4 family members.

Aftermath:

- The postmortem results showed that the couple had died from serious head injuries.
- Both families were believed to have recently joined a cult.
- It is claimed that A is mentally ill.

Source
The Star, 2nd October 2008
New Straits Times, 2nd October 2008

Dennis Avner, 50 of Nevada, USA is a Native American whose traditonal name is Stalking Cat. Apart from that he has the following nicknames: Catman, Cat, Tiger and Tiger man.

He has spent a lot of money and time (and of course endured the pain) to surgically modify his body to resemble that of a tiger.

Why? He explains in his website:

I am Huron and Lakota and in following a very old Huron Tradition I am transforming myself into my totem, a tiger.

Apparently, it all began through a dream when he was 23 years old. In the dream, an Indian Chief told him to “follow the ways of the tiger”.

This is Catman a long time ago before any surgery was done:

A recent photo of the Catman; can you see any similarity between this picture and the above?

Click here to see the picture

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK - Middle/Secondary School) Tanjung Lumpur is located in the city of Kuantan, state of Pahang, Malaysia. It was established in 1983 and has 820 students.

Since some time in May 2008, the school has experienced what is probably unprecedented in the history of the world’s educational institutions: almost daily supernatural / paranormal manifestations right in the middle of class, and right in front of journalists covering it.

So far 35 students have been affected.

Timeline of news reported in local mass media:

8th September 2008

The NST reported that dozens of bomohs, spiritual and faith healers have visited the school in the last few weeks. Some came from another state, while some came all the way from Indonesia.

They all said the same thing: there are many ghosts, spirits, jin and other supernatural beings in the school.

Some of the bomoh said they have communicated with the spirits who caused the bouts of hysteria and claimed that the spirits said:
(i) the cause of the problem is that the construction of the school’s new building had encroached on their area
(ii) they can leave the school, but they have several demands including a special feast.

What did the affected students see?
(i) most claimed that they saw a being with long hair
(ii) others claimed they were possessed by an old woman. That was apparently the reason why they acted and sounded like one.

Eminent local religious figure, state mufti Datuk Abdul Rahman Osman does not agree on “striking a deal” with the beings.

Two “paranormals” from Indonesia said:

Only one or two of the students were possessed by the spirits while the rest were responding due to a “herd instinct”. Most of them become hysterical due to other factors, including examination pressure and family problems. Some are reacting to the harsh treatment meted by bomohs during exorcism.

But some victim’s parents disagreed, like Mariah Mat Zain who said:

I’ve seen my daughter [form 2 student] turning her head more than 180 degrees. She could also overpower five men when possessed. She had been transferred to another school but she still suffers from bouts of hysteria. Don’t tell me she is faking it. She’s too young to do it.

She had sent her daughter to see a doctor, as had some other parents, but doctors gave the students clean bills of health, and they (the doctors) said it was a difficult phenomenon to explain, especially if it involved a Muslim. Usually, the only advice given would be to seek help from an ustaz [religious teacher] and pray.

Click here to read the rest of the post

You could always trust the Japanese to come up with the world’s most outlandish creations.

For an ashtray (or as some prefer to call it: cigarette extinguisher), instead of the usual boring dish-like contraption, the creative people of the Far East have managed to mass-produce something that’s wrong on so many fronts, including smoking, public nudity and of course the very act of extinguishing fags in another human being’s mouth, or rather throat by the looks of it.

This is the gadget in action, and probably its most innocent image in its gallery:

Click here to see the photo

Dede, now 37, is an Indonesian who accidentally cut his knee while working as a builder at a building site at 15 years of age. It was only a small wound, but a few weeks later a small wart then developed on his lower leg, then spread uncontrollably throughout his body.

The condition manifested itself as horn-like extensions, or gnarled growths, so big and thick that they looked like “twisted tree roots growing out of his skin.”

It had caused him, over time, to be sacked from his job by his early 20s, left by his wife of 10 years and shunned by neighbours. His 2 children had to be taken care of by relatives.

He was nicknamed the “Tree Man”.

It’s not that he didn’t try to find a cure before: Indonesian doctors tried their best, even burning off some of his growths, but the growths simply came back a few weeks later, and the growth rate was even faster!

Then, it was only natural that Dede’s worst fear was that the warts would completely cover his face, making him blind and starving him to death.

It was diagnosed as an extremely rare severe Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection by Dr Anthony Gaspari, American dermatologist. In fact HPV is a “fairly common infection” where in normal cases, it only causes small warts to develop. However, in Dede’s case, he has a rare genetic fault that gets in the way of his immune system: his body cannot deal with the warts. Hence, the virus was able to:

hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells, ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as “cutaneous horns” on his hands and feet.

The condition became so bad that it became life-threatening, as the warts caused a lung infection which necessitated his hospitalisation in early 2008.

By the end of his 9-month stay in hospital, 6 kg of warts were surgically removed from his body. In all, 95% of the warts had been removed.

Finally on 26th August 2008 he was cleared to go home so that he could observe the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan with his family.

Before he went home, he showed journalists how he could now write for the first time in more than 10 years:

If you thought his condition is still bad, you should see his condition BEFORE being hospitalised.

Video of him being interviewed by The Telegraph UK before he was admitted to hospital:

Click here to see the video

But what is a castrato?

A castrato is a man who was forcibly castrated at an early age in order to ensure that he would not experience the hormonal changes of puberty that lead to the lowering of the male voice. This meant that as an adult man he would sing like a modern soprano because he would’ve retained his boy soprano voice.

Alessandro Moreschi (1858 - 1922)

In 1903 the Catholic Church officially banned the practise of castrating for musical purposes

In the following recording he was already over 50 years old (some say he was in his 40s), hence rightly his voice sounded incredibly eerie.

Click here to listen to the recording

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

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

Last month, the Chinese Crested dog was named the World’s Ugliest Dog, and won USD1,600.

The owner said the prizemoney would be spent to treat Gus’ skin cancer.

Gus has had it worse than most dogs: rescued from a bad home, then had a leg amputated due to the cancer, then lost one eye after fighting with a tomcat.

But honestly speaking, I think he looks rather endearing.

The organisers should take a look at some of the dogs in Sabah - they look truly horrendous, and not in an acne-ridden way…

Source

Elisabeth Fritzl was 18 when she started to be kept hostage by her own father in a cellar under her home in a village near the town of Amstetten, Austria sometime in 1984. Hence, an innocent cellar became a dungeon, and her nightmare continued for 24 years, until April 2008. Heck, back in 1984 the balance transfer credit card was perhaps not yet even invented!

Forgive me for immediately thinking that Austrians have a penchant for locking up people in cellars for long periods of time, no thanks to that other infamous case: Natascha Kampusch, now 20, who was kidnapped on her way to school at 10 in 1998. Her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil kept her for 8 years in a bunker under his house near Vienna. She finally escaped on 23rd August 2006. The 44-year old Priklopil, a telecomm technician / information specialist, killed himself on the same day by jumping in front of a train.

But Elisabeth’s case is sure going to be bigger - she’s confined 3 times longer, for goodness’ sake!

Apparently the house where Fritzl was kept

Her father, now 73, is believed to have sexually abused and beaten her all these years. Worst of all, he fathered his daughter’s seven (six surviving until today) children, the oldest of whom is 19 years old. In effect, he became his children’s own grandfather.

Strangely, all the kids lived with the guy and even went to school while all this time their mother was trapped in the dungeon.

Apparently Mrs Fritzl had it much much worse than Kampusch; where Kampusch was allowed out after some time, even following her captor on a skiing holiday, Fritzl was apparently locked up for the whole of the 24 years!!!

Naturally, Fritzl was found in an exhausted condition, but luckily stable condition and now under medical and psychiatric care.

Her father managed to trick everybody by telling that Elisabeth “had gone into hiding and left him with her children, only communicating with occasional letters.”

The case only came out into the open when the oldest child, 19-year-old Kerstin was admitted to a hospital after a bout with “a mystery illness,” which left her in coma for several days and is now fighting for her life.

The other kids are in their early teens. It’s to their credit that their school issued a statement saying: “the children are well behaved and have always had good notes in school.”

Source

The maker of some watches in Japan is trying to make it as difficult as possible to tell the time. Can you tell me what time is being shown by the following watches? And yes, they are real watches, and you can even order them online.

Give up? It’s showing 10:25.

If you think that’s complicated (personally I’d call it the Predator’s watch, like the self-destruct timer the alien in the movie wore), try telling the time from this watch, where even the website selling it says that it is “stranger than your mother-in-law”:

I give up too!

P.S. I wouldn’t be surprised if it even has gps tracking built-in.

Source

We’ve seen it being used as a marketing device everywhere. Pretty girls has been posing suggestively, scantily clad next to anything from cars to chainsaws.

But this tops everything I have ever seen.

Sex is even used to sell coffins!

Presenting… Italian coffin (and anything funeral-related, including urns and funeral art) maker Cofanifunebri’s 2008 calendar.

This is the calendar for January 2008:

No contest, this is the sexiest coffin calendar ever! In fact, they have been producing such calendars since 2003!

The rest of the series are available at wauifekt.com.

Can you imagine a rat weighing 1 tonne, and what your cat would do?

Truly the King Kong of the rodents, luckily it died between 2 and 4 million years ago, long before humans appeared on Earth. It used to roam the swamps in South America.

The skull is 20 inches long, suggesting that its body is 10 feet long!

Compare the size of its skull with a modern rat

The skull was found recently on a beach in Uruguay, and it’s confirmed to be a new species, dubbed Josephoartigasia Monesi, a member of the order Rodentia.

The biggest modern rat, the already-huge 60 kilogram capybara, seems very small in comparison.

Before this, the biggest rat ever found was the Phoberomys pattersoni which was found in Venezuela in 2003, weighing an estimated 700 kilograms.

An artist’s impression of the monster’s face would’ve looked like (looks more like a hippopotamus than a rat, doesn’t it)?

Now here’s a good news: it was not carnivorous, since its grinding teeth are miniscule. That means it only ate, albeit in large amounts, soft vegetation, fruit and plants in the deltas.

Source
Yahoo! News, 15th Jan 2008

Vu Van Tanh, 50 of Vietnam was apparently a soldier in 1978. He was shot while on duty in neighbouring Cambodia that year, and caused a 1-inch long AR15 bullet to be stuck in his lung.

It did not cause him any discomfort for a long time.

Still, Vu, now a farmer, wanted to remove it “a long time ago”, but could not afford the cost.

But then recently it caused him fever and breathing difficulties. It was then that he decided that enough was enough and sought help.

So, 30 years later, doctors at Thanh Hoa hospital removed the bullet, for free, after a 3-hour operation, then showed it to him. It was already rusty.

The patient was fine and was sent home.

Source
Yahoo! News, 24 Dec 2007

Howard Hughes (1905-1976) was certainly one of the most colourful characters who ever lived, dubbed The World’s Ultimate Enigma by Time. He was an industrialist, entrepreneur, world record setter and pioneer in aviation, similar to Steve Fossett, and one of the world’s most powerful men.

Hughest in 1938, aged 33

He was one of the wealthiest persons who ever lived, being worth more than USD40 billion (in 2006 dollars) at one time. In fact, in 1966, he was *the* world’s richest person.

He was also once nicknamed The World’s Greatest Womanizer, well known for his flamboyance. He dated various beautiful Hollywood actresses, including Ginger Rogers, Katherine Hepburn, and Olivia de Havilland. He was married and divorced twice, to Ella Rice and Jean Peters, a famous actress.

Hughes in 1955, aged 50

Once, he moved to, and stayed at a Las Vegas casino / hotel. When the owner complained about his behaviour, Hughes simply bought not just the hotel, but 4 other casinos in the area.

But then things became bizarre. Hughes slowly became an eccentric, a hypochondriac, obsessed with avoiding germs. He became addicted to codeine and Valium, and displayed extreme compulsive-obsessive behaviour.

In the last 20 years of his life, Hughes was never seen or photographed in public.

Nobody could reach him, not even the President! Only his security guards and doctors were allowed to see him.

Vivid details of the last days of his life as described in crimelibrary.com:
Click here to read the rest of this entry

There have been many purported evidence of the existence of the creature known as bigfoot / sasquatch / yeti over the years. The most recent newsmaker is perhaps the images taken by Rick Jacobs on 16th September 2007, of which one of them looks like this:

Some people said it *could* be a bigfoot, but others derided it as merely “a bear with a bad skin infection.”

In the not too distant past, bigfoots have also made the news in Johor; unfortunately there’s no really compelling images to show for it.

However, the most compelling evidence that bigfoots really do exist is the Patterson-Gimlin film, which was taken on 20th October 1967. Even though some have declared it a hoax, I think the arguments supporting for it are indeed very compelling and interesting. With recent advances in image enhancing technology, more details have emerged from the film which makes the case supporting the existence of bigfoots stronger. I am not saying that the debate has been won, but it is definitely not lost yet.

The following is the original video:

Click here to see the video

On 28th September 2007 Yahoo News reported that in Phoenix, USA killer amoebas living in lakes entered the body of Aaron Evans, 14 through the nose, attacked the brain, eating it until the boy died.

At first Aaron complained of headache that wouldn’t go away. Doctors first suspected meningitis. Only later did doctors determine that the boy had been infected with Naegleria.

It sounds like science fiction but it’s shockingly true.

Mercifully, real-life encounters with it are very rare.

Still, it has killed 6 boys and young men this year alone: 3 in Florida, 2 in Texas and 1 in Arizona.

The amoeba is called Naegleria fowleri, and has killed 23 people in the US alone between 1995 and 2004.

Apparently it was discovered in Australia in the 60s, and there have been several hundred cases worldwide since then.

Naegleria lives almost everywhere: lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools, eating off algae and bacteria in the sediment.

People get infected when they wade through shallow water and stir up the bottom. If water somehow shot up the nose, the amoeba can gain a foothold.

It then destroys tissue as it makes its way up into the brain. There, it basically eats the brain.

Symptoms include a stiff neck, headaches and fevers. Later stages, there’ll be signs of brain damage such as hallucinations and behavioral changes.

Once infected, most people have little chance of survival. Some drugs have stopped the amoeba in lab experiments, but people who have been attacked rarely survive.

From initial exposure, you’d die within 2 weeks.

You should avoid warm, standing water and areas with algae blooms. The easiest way to prevent infection is to use nose clips when swimming or diving in fresh water i.e. do not allow water to go way up in your nose.

Source
yahoo news

The title of the world’s ugliest fish is a toss between 2 contenders.

First up is Lasiognathus Saccostoma, which has been called “a grotesque among grotesques” and “has an overbite to end all overbites.” It’s surprisingly small, only 3 inches long. Nature has equipped it with a fishing rod, complete with lure and three bony hooks! Its precise function is as yet unknown, but undersea explorer William Beebe was reported to have said way back in 1930 that “it might be cast swiftly ahead, when the hooks and lights would so frighten any pursued fish that they would hesitate long enough to be engulfed in the onrushing maw.”

The other contender is Himantolophus Groenlandicus or footballfish, which has been described as having a face “only a mother could love.” It is apparently the first deep-sea angler ever found - that was back in 1833 at 22 inches long - still the largest on record. As with the other fish, this one also has some kind of “fishing rod” contraption built-in.

Click to see its picture

I think there’s no contest here: they are all deep sea animals. But as to which one is the strangest / most bizarre, you’d have several choices.

Up first is the deep sea giant sea spider, which lives more than a mile deep in the Pacific. It is nearly a foot across.

Then there is the deep sea glass squid, which lives off New Zealand.

Next up, the one and only viperfish. It has lower fangs so long that “they don’t even fit in its mouth, but rather project back dangerously close to the eyes.”

Next up, the “Saccopharynx lavenbergi” (The gulper).

Apparently these “can reach six feet in length, have rows of sharp little teeth, and, like pythons of the deep, can swallow prey much fatter than themselves. They down victims whole, of course, which is why they’re called gulpers.”

Sources
exploretheabyss.com
pbs.org
extremescience.com
who-sucks.com

Back in January I mentioned that Sabahans are the world’s most inventive name-makers. I am dead wrong.

For celebrities, the strangest must be Akon, the American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer, whose real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Locku Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.

I think the most number of middle names is 24, Anna Bertha Cecilia Diana Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Inez Jane Kate Louise Maud Nora Ophelia Prudence Quince Rebecca Sarah Teresa Ulysis Venus Winifred Xenophon Yetty Zeno Pepper. Did you realise that her names follow the alphabet order? She was a British woman who lived in the earlier part of the 20th century. Her nickname is none other than “Alphabet.”

Then there is Zachary Zzzzzzzzzra (born Bill Holland) who legally changed his name as a marketing ploy so that “people could find him in the back of the phone book”.

There is a long list of really strange people’s names over at wikipedia.org, but IMHO, the strangest must be (more…)

The Star reported on 21st April 2007 that a 73-year old man living alone at a double storey link house in Taman Cempaka, Ipoh developed a strange hobby in 2003 - collecting old and presumably modern furniture, clothes, broken flower and cooking pots, plastic ware, bicycles, newspapers, rotten fruit, rusting refrigerators and other junk and storing them in and around his house.

4 years later, 40 Ipoh City Council workers came to his house with a 3-ton lorry. In one hour, they filled it with rubbish from the driveway and garden. 3-ton lorry filled to the brim, and they have not even entered the house yet!

The house itself was locked, but piles of smelly, rotting garbage can be seen.

The man had been staying in the house for the past 10 years, and apparently his wife and son moved out 3 years back.

On another note, where golf galaxy is the single best place to look for golf equipment, it is also undoubtedly the best place to buy basketball as well as baseball equipment. All the baseball buffs can relax now.

source

As followup to my previous post on the same subject.

The Star reported on 20th April 2007 that Ta Sam, 67, is a highly sexed Cambodian in Svay Rieng province whose previous 2 wives divorced him due to his insatiable appetite in bed.

10 days after his latest divorce, he could contain himself no longer. In middle of the night, he picked out one of his young cows in the shed near his house. Stripping down to his birthday suit, he mounted her, only to receive fatal kicks from the heifer to his head and genital area. His grandson heard the commotion, checked it out and discovered his grandad naked and dead on the shed floor.

Ta Sam has now earned the dubious title of the world’s only cow rapist who died when his intended victim fought back.

Police decided not take any action against the bovine because after all, it acted in self defence.

New York City has its annual No Pants Subway Ride, where hundreds of people would board a particular subway train fully clothed above the waist, but under the waist, only in their briefs or panties. What they’re doing is not breaking any laws, hence they’ve been at it since 2002, started by 7 members of the comedy group Improv Everywhere.

This year, they again used the #6 train, on 13th January. Starting in the afternoon, one person would board the train in boxers and briefs. Then another, and another. By the end of the ride, there’d be 20 to 40 similarly underdressed people on the same train. So, at the beginning fellow passengers could dismiss the lone underdressed guy as deranged, but when there’s many of them, it becomes something that’s obviously meant to be funny.

Some pics

Another are flash mobs, where a group of people would assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a short period, then quickly disperse. This is possible due to modern communications networks like mobile phones and the internet. Flash mobs are not restricted to the western world, the Far East don’t want to be undone either.

Check out this Japanese flash mob, taken from a comedy show, where 100 people chase after random strangers, with extremely funny reactions. Apparently, what the mob is shouting is:

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IMHO, the world’s best natural optical illusion is this picture of 2 planes which seem to be colliding in mid-air, but are in fact a safe distance from each other.

Apparently, it’s a Lufthansa 747-400 and a United Airlines 757-200 that were on simultaneous approaches to 2 separate runways at San Francisco Airport. The separation requirement for flying in parallel and doing simultaneous approaches is more than 200 meters. Therefore, these 2 planes are actually more than 200m apart!

How did the picture turn out to be like that? Timing and position of the photographer is one thing. Another, and possibly most important is: The fact that the Lufthansa plane is 3 times larger than the other plane and it being positioned slightly behind, gives us this amazing optical illusion.

Impressed? Check out this other optical illusion. The squares marked A and B are the same shade of gray, yet they appear different. I bet everybody, even after several glances, would be stumped by this one.

After the jump.

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The world’s oldest rape victim

It could be the 98-year-old woman at an Australian nursing home. As reported by ABC TV in February 2006, the woman suffering from dementia was raped three times in a nursing home in Victoria State by a staff members. In addition, he also allegedly abused other residents. [1]

The world’s oldest person on whom rape was attempted

In June 2006, the BBC reported that Paul Blackwood broke into a 101-year-old woman’s house in West Midlands, United Kingdom, in November 2005 and attempted to rape her.

The world’s strangest rape case (I)

In February 2007, The Oregonian reported that Georgie Audean Buoy, an 82-year-old woman, and described as a “kind old church volunteer who enjoys gardening”, has been sentenced to 3 years jail for having a sexual relationship with an 11-year-old boy in The Dalles, Oregon, USA. Even residents of the town where it happened are still having a hard time believing it. She was apparently a foster mother to the boy and was arrested a year ago in the town with a population of 12,000. The DA felt compelled to offer a copy of her taped confession to quell the protests of the many doubters. Buoy has been a member of the local church for more than 20 years, greeted parishioners on Sundays and welcomed those in need to stay at her house. The pastor summed it up: “This is one of those things that’s unexplainable to us”. [3]

But I think this case below takes the cake:

The world’s strangest rape case (II)

Apparently, in November 2004, sobkor.ru reported that a cat named Timka raped a woman in Russia - she was hospitalised with “severe injuries to her genitals”. How did it happen? Well, 2 women, Vera and Svetlana wanted to er… “experience sexual pleasure via intimate contact with a cat.” Yep, zoophilia, bestiality, whatever you call it was on the cards. Can’t really blame the cat, can you?

Full story after the jump.
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I try not to mention anything that’s already mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records, but this one is too interesting not to add here.

Apparently, the world’s highest heels is 16 inches tall with an 11 inch platform - that’s a 5 inch difference, and it looks like this:

[image from powernet.co.uk]

Can you imagine wearing something like that? Your demure, average height 5′4″ lady will end up looking like one of those Amazonian warriors, or worse, circus clown who’s 6′8″ tall and struggling not to fall over.

Apparently it’s made by Ladybwear.

Next up, the world’s most extreme ladies’ shoe designs are made by Mr James Designs. They have come up with designs like this:

More pics:

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Vic Fearn & Company Limited make the world’s weirdest coffins, and business has never been so good for the 160-year old company based in Nottingham, central England. They make 20,000 conventional coffins a year, but recently things have begun to change, for better or worse.

These guys are truly the champions of the spirit of anything goes when it comes to making coffins, meaning this is definitely too progressive to be accepted here in Malaysia, let alone in Sabah.

There’s a mind boggling array of things one can choose to roll up the aisle, and later on get buried in, including the following:

A bench, complete with cushion, although I doubt it if anyone would want to sit on it!

More weird coffin pictures after the jump.

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Chuck Lamb, 47 aka The Dead Body Guy probably has the world’s strangest hobby: he likes to play dead. As if that’s not enough, he takes it one step further: take photos and videos of himself playing dead and posts them on his website, starting in 2005.

These bizarre antics have attracted 32 million hits to his website by its 1st anniversary, and several newsprint, TV and radio appearances. But what is his motivation? In his website, he says that he’d always dreamed of being in a movie or on TV: "I grew up like most people in their 40’s watching everything from Dragnet to Twilight Zone and dreaming ‘I can do that if just given the chance’. I still watch every bit of the credits of a show or movie to see all of the people it takes to make it. Key grips, best boys and personal assistants are all included. I close my eyes and see dead body… played by… me!"

Well, that seems to be a pretty bizarre hobby for a married man with 6 kids. He himself admitted that he has no acting experience and not good looking. In other words, he’d never make it as an actor. But there’s one thing he can do as well as anyone: lay around with the best of them!

He continues: "Just ask my wife. No one can lay around like me. Every CSI, Law & Order, and countless other movies and shows feature a dead body in it. I say ‘THAT COULD BE ME!’ I can lay there and be dead. I can achieve my dream by being shot, stabbed, drugged, mugged, mangled, strangled or any other scenario you can think of. I can even recite lines if needed. As you have probably already guessed, I am not shy at all. I am asking people all over the world ‘Help Me Live My Dream — Let Me Play Dead.’"

Make his dream come true, if you want, by checking out his website.

Update 8th Feb 2007: MStar online, a Malaysian tabloid, published an article on 5th Feb that claims that the crystals are actually formed from her internal fluids that hardened as they interacted with air.

Update: after a few days in observation at a hospital, she did not produce any more crystals. Is this all a hoax?

Local newspapers and TV3 reported on 25th January 2007 that Siti Suhana Saadon, 23 of Alor Gajah, Melaka has the bizarrre ability to secrete colourful, gem-like crystals or stones from her left toenail. And two of those are rather large. They are oval-shaped and hard.

Here is Siti Suhana showing the 2 biggest “gems”: (more…)

As far as I can tell, its only purpose is to photograph and feature discarded mattresses. (more…)

The Norwich Evening News reported on 23rd December 2006 that Derek Jones (centre in the pic below), 55, died 31 times on 21 November 2006 and is still alive as of the time of the newsreport. (more…)

IMHO, the Alien Facehugger beats all the others face down.

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punkrockpenguin.net lists the world’s worst book covers, which includes this one: (more…)

Lou Reimuller (aka Sunset Lou), musician, collector, luthier and artist created probably the world’s strangest guitar in 1986.

Dubbed Teenar, it is a vintage mannequin transformed into an electric guitar.

But, in the words of Jamie Zawinski, it’s more like an “amputee paedophile mannequin guitar.”

Images after the jump. (more…)