UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

It was reported earlier this year that associate professor Marc L. Moskowitz, of the Department of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina and “an expert on Taiwan’s folk religion and popular culture” has released a documentary entitled Dancing for the Dead: Funeral Strippers in Taiwan based on many hours of fieldwork he conducted throughout Taiwan in 2008.

A folk tradition in rural Taiwan is to hire young women to strip at a funeral ceremonies, and is deemed an important part of the grieving process, as a way to send off the recently dead. Some said it was because new ghosts (i.e. the spirit of the recently deceased) get picked on by older ghosts, thus the show was done to distract the older ghosts in order to let the new ghost get used to his new surroundings in peace.

Apparently, the custom came to the fore in the early 1980s and is basically associated with the working class.

The scantily clad girls hop on an Electric Flower Car [EFC] (which are actually diesel trucks with a stage attached and multicoloured lighting installed), then sing while erotically gyrating to pop numbers, finally stripping down to full nudity.

Surely scenes like this is few and far between elsewhere around the world

The government isn’t condoning it – it’s actively trying to crack down on the practice.

Video:

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When it comes to the unspeakably strange, few passages of ritual would be able to match that practiced by the Etoro / Edolo and Baruya tribes of Papua New Guinea.

They could be the only tribe in the world where homosexuality is not only allowed, it is a requirement in order to be accepted.

That’s right, they believe that to come of age, young boys must perform oral sex on, then consume the semen of their elders.

In the Baruyas’ case, when a boy reaches 8 years of age, he begins the ritual on older males 12 years and older.

More shockingly, gay acts, most prominently fellatio is encouraged all through the youth of their males.

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Fried scorpions, centipedes or mosquitoes might be very unusual choices for food, but at the annual Hokitika Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand, one can find, amongst other delicacies, horse semen.

If the very moniker makes you gag, consider that the locals say it tastes like milkshake.

Cost: NZ$10 a shot, inclusive of an energy drink chaser dubbed Powerhorse.
Flavours: au naturel, cherry, licorice, banoffee pie

How did they get the semen out? Why, with an artificial vagina of course!

Care to try? If you’re up for it, perhaps it’s best to get ready the paramedics with their medical computer carts close by.

Perhaps the only thing that can rival that is the barbecued baby monkeys of the Amazon.

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What Valentine’s Day “gift” can be attempted to be explained, and makes sense, yet the resulting effect would most likely be utter disgust?

Why, a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach, what else?

Photo credit: cockroach.com

While quite a lot of people might consider a business credit card as a perfect V-Day gift, in February 2011 the Bronx Zoo came up with a truly unique idea: pay USD10 and you get to name a roach (presumably after your better half), and a certificate to make it offical.

The text at the name-a-roach section of the zoo’s website includes the following:

Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever.

Limited-time Valentine’s Day offer

Can’t decide on what to get that special someone for Valentine’s Day? Sometimes the answer is all around us, and right where it’s been for millions of years—like cockroaches! How better to express your appreciation for that special someone than to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after them?

Naming a roach in honor of someone near and dear to your heart shows that you’ve noticed how resilient, resourceful, and loyal that person is. Or maybe it’s in recognition of your one and only’s virility, or strength in the face of high radiation. You’re not afraid to say, “Baby, you’re a roach!”

But not just any roach….He or she is a Madagascar hissing roach, the biggest and loudest of these stalwart insects. WCS’s Bronx Zoo has 58,000 of these brown, iridescent beauties, and they need names. With a $10 donation, one of them can be named by you. How sweet!

We’ll send a truly memorable certificate of honor to that certain someone explaining that there’s a special insect living at the Bronx Zoo with his or her name on it.

Where does my money go?

Your $10 donation helps WCS conserve species big and small, beautiful and damned. With your support, we’ll continue to do our work saving wildlife in the forests of Madagascar and throughout the world’s most majestic wild places.

But why these buggers? Simple. The insect’s family life is exemplary: the parents and kids stay close to each other for a long time, unlike most other insects. They don’t fly away, they are gentle, and perhaps most importantly, they’ll never bite. And they can do amazing things like effortlessly climb up a vertical face of smooth glass.

Source
Huffington Post, 11 Feb 2011

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IMHO, it happened on 5th November 1983, around 4am, in a decompression chamber of Byford Dolphin, a semi-submersible, column-stabilised drilling rig operated by Dolphin Drilling. It was located in the Frigg gas field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

A diver aged 34 had just been winched up after a dive and joined to the trunk, left his wet gear in it, then climbed through the trunk into a chamber.

The diver was about to close the door between the trunk and the chamber he entered when, for some reason, one of the divers outside opened a clamp which resulted in explosive decompression of the chamber, from a pressure of 9 atmospheres to 1 in a fraction of a second. A tremendous blast shot from the chamber through the trunk, pushing the bell away.

The diver was shot out through the small jammed hatch door opening, and was ripped apart. Having being exposed to the highest pressure gradient, he violently exploded due to the rapid and massive expansion of internal gases. All of his thoracic and abdominal organs, and even his thoracic spine were ejected, as were all of his limbs. Simultaneously, his remains were expelled through the narrow trunk opening left by the jammed chamber door, less than 60 cm in diameter. Fragments of his body were found scattered about the rig, and one fragment was found at an unexpected place, on the rig’s derrick, 10 m directly above the chambers. Mercifully, his death was most likely instantaneous and painless.

This is a video of an explosive decompression:

The committee investigating the accident concluded it was due to human error on the part of one of the divers outside who opened the clamp. He was also killed.

Source

If one can see photos of the aftermath, not that I could find any, I’d imagine the experience must be a little more unnerving than going through hidroxycut reviews…

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Recently Chen Wei-yih, 30 of Taiwan was reported to be married on 6th November 2010, complete with the whole shebang:

- white wedding dress
- studio photography session in that dress
- wedding planner
- reception at a banquet hall for 30
- honeymoon in Australia
- budget: USD$5,675

Her photos are all over the web, starting with her Facebook page

The only difference is that she’s the only one being celebrated, because she’s marrying… herself!

Hmm… that means she doesn’t need to worry about finding out the best way to get rid of blackheads, no?

In her own words:

I am not inspired by the men I’ve met, yet I’m facing social pressure to get married. Age thirty is a prime period for me. My work and experience are in good shape, but I haven’t found a partner, so what can I do? It’s not that I’m anti-marriage. I just hope that I can express a different idea within the bounds of a tradition.

Some idea indeed. I wonder how her closest family members thought of that.

There’s only one thing she can’t do – register the marriage.

But her last words are rather encouraging, which is that if she finds a man later she will get married for real.

Still, I can’t help but feel that this was an elaborately staged thing to attract attention to herself, for reasons best known to Ms Chen herself.

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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 was the calendar for January 2008:

No contest, this is the sexiest coffin calendar ever, but if somehow you still got turned on by that, probably even a testosterone cream won’t be able to help.

In fact, they have been producing such calendars since 2003!

The rest of the series used to be available at wauifekt.com.

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

So, 30 years later in 2007, 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.

Vu might be all skin and bones after his ordeal, but I bet bullets are not in the list of fat burners in apidexin reviews…

Source
Yahoo! News, 24 Dec 2007

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Humanity has long tried to explain the reason for earthquakes within their own cultures. In Norse mythology, the earth would tremble everytime the god Loki struggled to avoid a snake’s venom dripping on his face. In Greek mythology, Poseidon, the god of earthquakes would strike the ground whenever he’s in a bad mood, hence the shakes. While in Japanese mythology, whenever Namazu the giant catfish thrashes around, earthquakes would happen.

However, it was reported by the BBC on 20th April 2010 that according to Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, a cleric from Tehran, Iran, earthquakes are not caused by any of those, or sudden releases of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves, but rather women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously.

In other words, sluts are mass murderers.

He explains succintly thus:

…women should stick to strict codes of modesty to protect themselves. Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes. What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble? There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam’s moral codes.

I suppose that even includes advertisements showing scantily clad young women showing their new svelte bodies after a quick weight loss round.

In Iran, earthquakes have killed tens of thousands in the last 10 years, including 25,000 when a quake hit the city of Bam in 2003.

Source
The BBC, 20th April 2010

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Which people has the most powerful “pugai” (black magic charm) in the world, so much so that “Magic Charm Practitioner” could be included in their resumes?

Judging from the Malaysian experience that made the news, it would seem that it’s either one of Nigeria, Sumatera (Indonesia) or Lombok (Indonesia).

Nigeria – case study

It was reported in The Star on 19th April 2010 that Sofea, a fiftysomething grandmother was introduced to Fareed, a Nigerian 2 years ago. He was a smooth operator who whispered sweet nothings in her ear – even calling her “princess” – and cooked her traditional Nigerian food.

She fell madly in love with him, even though:
- by her own admission, he was “not handsome”
- Fareed cheated her of RM600,000.
- Fareed was arrested in Malaysia for using forged travel documents to enter the country
- saw for herself that the man was living in luxury with money she gave him.
- she knew that while Fareed was in Malaysia, he had other girlfriends and was also accused of stealing from them.

What did she do instead?

- demanded divorce from her crippled husband,
- bought Fareed an air ticket for his trip home back in May 2009
- flew to Nigeria to see him
- wanted to “live and die with him”
- paid the rental for his condo in KL

Lombok – case study

The Star reported on 30th October 2008 that Noor Fadilah Ahmad of Selangor was 15 when she first got to know Indonesian labourer Nasrudin Dahrom, 20+ who hails from Lombok, an area east of Java.

3 years later, on 6th September 2008 she eloped with him to his hometown.

Her mother said what’s usually said in a hushed tone: girls who run away with men from Lombok rarely, if ever, see their families again.

Her parents only managed to locate and bring her back in late October 2008, and Fadilah “regretted her actions.”

Nasrudin said they were married in Lombok Timur on 11th October but apparently that was not the case, as there were no supporting documents to back him up.

Nasrudin had the cheek to say: “This is our destiny. I ask for forgiveness from her father. If necessary I will kiss his feet.”

Sumatra – case study

It was reported by The Star on 16th April 2010 that for the past 5 months, an average of one Malaysian man have been marrying a woman from Sumatra daily, most of them as second wives.

And that was the reported ones: there could be “much more”, unreported such marriages.

The woman usually worked in Malaysia as maids, factory workers or cleaners, and many are divorcees with children.

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Nose-picking, or when compulsively done is called the almost unpronouncable “rhinotillexomania” is a universal habit, yet is considered somewhat taboo in most places in the world, meaning, like defecation, it’s not acceptable to be seen doing it in public.

To take it one step further, actually eating the extracted mucus (mucophagy) is considered a very disgusting habit.

But Dr Friedrich Bischinger, a lung specialist at Privatklinik Hochrum in Innsbruck, Austria takes a totally different view. He is probably the only doctor in the world who claimed that picking your nose AND eating the resulting bounty is good for the immune system!

What else? Probably his next paper will claim that applying mucus all over one’s face is even better than tazorac cream at treating acne…

Source
Damn Interesting, December 2005

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The Chachapoyas, or “The Warriors of the Clouds” lived in the cloud forests of the Amazonas region (now Peru). Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, their civilization was conquered by the Incas.

The Spanish historian Pedro Cieza de Le�n described what the Chachapoyas looked like:

They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas’ wives …

These people had no known European ancestry. In pre Inca times, no European had ever reached that part of the world. They were good looking, had white skin and blonde hair, unlike other people living in that part of the world at that time.

So why did they look different?

An answer was offered by the Antisuyo expeditions of the Amazon Archaeology Institute:

Given that the terrain facilitates peripatric speciation, as evidenced by the high biodiversity of the Andean region, the physical attributes of the Chachapoyas are most likely reflecting founder effects, assortative mating, and/or related phenomena in an initially small population sharing a relatively recent common ancestor with other Amerind groups.

I suppose if one wants to carry out an anthropological experiment to see if the skin id of a group of people like the Chachapoyas of yore could be recreated, one could attempt what was outlined above.

Source
Wikipedia

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The BBC reported on 6th April 2010 that Gitta Jarant, 66 and Anke Anusic, 41 her step daughter, both German citizens, put Gitta’s dead husband Curt “Willi” Jarant, 91 put sunglasses over his eyes, then the three of them took a taxi from Oldham, Greater Manchester to Liverpool’s John Lennon airport, put him on a wheelchair, and then attempted to check him in as a passenger on a flight bound for Berlin.

With them were 2 young children.

An airport staff, Andrew Millea helped to put Curt into a wheelchair and was reported by the Daily Telegraph to have said:

I did my best to help by carefully lifting the man from his seat. To my horror, his face fell sideways against mine. It was ice-cold … but they reassured me that he “always sleeps like that.” I could see the driver of the taxi was shocked too, he was white as a sheet and looked very shaken, so I placed the body into the wheelchair and pushed the man to the back of the easyJet queue.”

He then alerted the police, who arrested the 2 women. The police reportedly thought he’d died the previous day.

Anyway what the women tried to do would’ve been impossible, because the Curt would’ve needed to give his passport and then answer a few security questions, like whether his luggage contained any banned substances. Even if he managed to bypass that stage, he’d still need to go through security and special carers assigned to wheelchair passengers. And he’d have to go through a similar cycle in Berlin.

Anke and Gitta speaking to the press

Gitta defended their actions and said:

I thought he was merely sleeping. [He was] the best man of the world – good man. I [did not] kill my Willi. My Willi is my god. I [have loved] my Willi for 22 years.

Anke Anusic was quoted to have said:

They would think that for 24 hours we would carry a dead person? This is ridiculous. He was moving, he was breathing. Eight people saw him. Of course we did not know he was dead. He suffered from Alzheimer’s and was in hospital for pneumonia. We’d waited until he was better before booking a ticket to travel. He was released from hospital. He was fine. If he was not fine the hospital wouldn’t release him. He was alive. He was pale but he wasn’t dead. A dead person you cannot carry to Germany, there are too many people checking and security. How can you bring a dead person to Germany?

But why would they do it? A possible reason is to avoid repatriation fees which cost a whopping UDS7,000.

Well, who do you believe? If he was really sleeping he could’ve consumed really effective sleeping pills beforehand: click here to learn more about sleeping pills.

Source
The BBC, 6 April 2010

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UPDATE 1 September 2011

It was reported today that Donna Simpson has thrown in the towel after breaking up with her fiancé.

Announcing her decision on her website, she wrote that she’s now on a healthy eating diet and exercise plan, and that her site will be replaced with a weight loss blog.

Among the things she wrote:

I recently split with my fiancée of five years and moved with my two children back to my home town in Ohio. This life changing move made me realize something important. The health and welfare of my family was always my priority and they were well taken care of by my ex. Now that I have sole responsibility of taking care of my children, I must drastically change my lifestyle. It’s fine to gain weight when you have a partner who will help feed you and take care of everything around you. But that’s between two adult people who make the choice. I realised that I couldn’t expect my kids to do that for me.

She added:

At this time I would like to thank and maybe apologize to all my fans. I realize this statement will be met with mixed emotions. The people that admired me as a “super-sized big beautiful web model” probably will be disappointed in this decision.

In fact, she’d already lost 60 pounds due to the breakup and moving to another location, and plans to reach 370.

But worryingly, she still had the cheek to say that “she may come off the diet if she meets someone who wants her to be heavier again.”

Source

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UPDATE 14 July 2011

Perhaps it’s all business then. Donna Simpson is now earning USD90K per year (more than RM20,000 per month), due to her charging people to watch her eating online: USD20 for 30 days.

She uses the money to you guessed it, buy more food: burgers, chips, meatloaf, pizza, cake & fizzy drinks.

Her shopping bill is estimated to be GBP500 per week, which is equivalent to around RM10,000 per month!

Last year I wrote that she’s eating 12,000 calories daily, now she’s eating even more: 15,000.

Last year I wrote that she weighed 600 pounds, now she’s at 700. Her target is about 1,000 pounds.

Just look at what she ate during Christmas 2010:
- 2 x 25lb turkeys
- 2 x maple-glazed hams
- 15lbs potatoes (10lbs roast, 5lbs mashed)
- 5 loaves bread;
- 5lb herb stuffing
- 4 pints gravy
- 4 pints cranberry dressing
- 20lb vegetables
- Salad made up of marshmallow, cream cheese, whipped cream and cookies.

She has since split from her partner Philippe Gouamba.

I’d guess that she’d be dead before she achieves her goal.

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15 March 2010

People are scrambling to lose weight; there are many companies offering lose weight programs, there’s the popular reality show The Biggest Loser, there are sites like www.bestfatburners.org, and yet here we have someone who’d jump at the chance to be a contestant on The Biggest Gainer if such a show existed.

Already the world’s fattest mother, Donna Simpson, 42 is currently at 600 pounds (about 270 kg), yet she thinks she’s not heavy enough and wants to tip the scales at 1,000 pounds (454 kg) within 2 years! With her 68kg partner Philippe, 49, they make quite a couple.

Amazingly, Philippe encourages her to eat more, not the other way round.

Donna wears size XXXXXXXL clothes

Incredible – isn’t she aware of all the health risks that entails, not mentioning financial burden on herself and later, tax payers?

She can’t even walk beyond 20 feet before needing to sit down, and yet she insists that she’s healthy. She currently goes about on a special scooter.

And her grocery bills can easily top USD750 a week!

To achieve her goal, she’s eating an unbelieveable 12,000 calories a day (2,000 is the recommended amount for a woman) and stays still as long as possible. Her favourite is sushi of which she can gobble 70 pieces in one sitting.

But why is she doing it? In her own words: “I love eating and people love watching me eat. It makes people happy, and I’m not harming anyone.” Yeah right.

Source
Daily Mail (UK), 15 March 2010

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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

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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 “object�m-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 Gro�-Ziethener Stra�e 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

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Apparently public nudity is perfectly legal in Barcelona, and there are a few naked men wandering about, but this so-called Elephant Man, as he’s called, is the most famous (or infamous) of them all.

Exactly why they chose to wander about in their birthday suit is anybody’s guess, demonstrating the effectiveness of the slimming pill being one of them.

Whatever, you can imagine tourists’ reaction as he nonchalantly walks by them.

Uncensored photos here.

Additionally:
- no one knows his real name (yet).
- FC Barcelona tattoo on his chest.
- usually roams La Rambla / Les Rambles, the most famous street in Barcelona.
- can sometimes be found roller skating.
- he’s been doing this for years.
- he’s practices Eastern spirituality.
- he usually can be found donning baseball caps while smoking.
- apparently doesn’t like it when photographed.
- apparently always yells at tourists.

There are some videos of him on youtube, like this one:

Source
Ugliest Tattoos, 3rd October 2009

Popularity: 11% [?]

Kenneth Pinyan (1960 – 2005) was a divorced father and Boeing engineer in Seattle, Washington, USA with a very strange hobby. While others are into things like browsing for stuff at Best Buy, he indulged in something more radical: bestiality.

He would perform “receptive anal sex” with fully-grown male horses (stallions) at a farm, videotape the encounters, then distribute them using the pseudonym “MrHands60″.

In one particular encounter on 2nd July 2005, the horse’s penetration caused him to suffer a perforated colon i.e. a hole, or holes was or were “punched through” his colon’s wall, which is normally deemed a medical emergency.

However, due to the nature of the case, he did not immediately get medical attention. I mean, what does he tell the doctor, “Doc, I’m hurting inside my stomach because a horse raped me?”

As a result, he died.

He is probably the first person to actually get killed by willingly being anally penetrated by a horse.

I have not seen the video, nor am I going to look for it, for seeing people’s reaction on youtube was enough, like the following:

The case was popularly known as “Enumclaw horse sex case”, and as a result a bill was passed in the state outlawing “both sex with animals and the videotaping of the same,” punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment.

James Tait, now 58, is the guy who was involved in the making of the video. Amazingly, he continued having sex with horses himself and of course videotaping the acts until his latest arrest in mid October 2009:

Source
The Sun, 20 Oct 2009

Popularity: 14% [?]

Flight: Air India, IC-884, 106 passengers, 7 crewmembers

Plane: Airbus A-320

From: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 12.35am local time

To: Lucknow, en route to New Delhi, 6am local time

Date: 3rd October 2009

Local time of altercation: 4.30am (while over Pakistan airspace)

On one corner: the 2 pilots, Commander Ranbeer (Ranbir) Arora and Captain Aditya Chopra

On the other corner: 2 cabin crew: 24-year-old unidentified air hostess and flight purser Amit Khanna

Cause: 2 versions:
- the crewmembers said the pilots sexually harrassed an air hostess. The argument started in the cockpit but spilled into the galley.
- the pilots said “the harassment claim was an attempt to divert attention from accusations of misconduct against a male flight attendant.”

Damage:
- a pilot & an air hostess got bruises in the ensuing punch-up.

Aftermath:
- both parties filed complaints upon landing.
- The air hostess claimed she was “abused and pushed by the two pilots inside the cockpit when she refused to grant them personal favours.”
- Air India grounded (de-rostered) all involved.

Of course the passengers were wide-eyed in disbelief, as it was definitely endangering the lives of everybody on board and grossly violating safety norms.

Whew, if these were a common occurence in airlines, getting even a term life insurance would be a monumental task.

Source
The BBC, 4th October 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Ken Morrish, 72, of the village of Colaton Raleigh, Devon, England grew the world’s most unique apple: a Golden Delicious split perfectly down the middle – one half was green and the other red, “as if he had painted it.”

Probably caused by “a random genetic mutation at odds of more than a million to one,” although some hypochondriacs, for reasons best known only to themselves, might well say this has something to do with mesothelioma.

In his almost 50 years of experience with apples, this was the first time it’s happened.

Of course it’s become the most popular apple in the village at least.

He said:

It’s truly amazing. It looks as if a green apple and a red apple has been cut in half and stuck together. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The red and green split through the stem is totally perfect � as if I’ve painted it.

Source
The Telegraph (UK), 25th Sept 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Most facebook quizzes are harmless, if time-wasting fun, but I think quizzes like these might just have crossed the line.

It might be done in jest, all fun and games, but these could very well cause you to stop taking any Facebook quiz forever!

ONE

TWO

Popularity: 1% [?]

Debbie Bird, 41 of Great Britain suffers from any teenager’s worst nightmare – allergy to mobile phones [or even cordless phones], computers and cars; and any other modern technology like microwaves.

Basically, going near anything that emits electromagnetic fields (EMF) would make her develop painful skin rashes – her eyelids would swell to thrice their normal size.

That means no going to any place with Wi-Fi like Starbucks or Coffee Bean.

She’s forced to ensure her home is EMF-free:
(i) walls covered in special carbon paint;
(ii) windows with a protective film;
(iii) sleeping under a silver-plated mosquito net.

She first became aware of her condition when she moved to a place where her neighbours were all using wireless internet connections and cordless phones.

Her plight is so rare that in the UK, officially electro-sensitivity (ES) is not recognised as a medical condition. There’s even a debate going on whether it is really a disease or merely psychosomatic.

On another note, if an obese person is allergic to weightloss supplements, wouldn’t that be absolute hell?

Source
The Daily Mail, 22 Mar 2007

Popularity: 1% [?]

Water is an absolute necessity for life, but Michaela Dutton, 21 of the United Kingdom is one of only 30 people worldwide who suffer from aquagenic urticaria, or allergy to water.

Contact with it causes her unbearable pain.

Only one in 230 million humans suffer from it, so rare that most doctors and dermatologists have never even seen a case of it first hand.

That means she cannot go for a swim, or even have a shower, and god forbid, not caught in the rain.

Well, she does have a shower once a week – for a few seconds only.

And no, not even water from something as impossible to control as sweating – angry red rashes would appear.

Drinking water or fruit juice? Impossible – her throat would blister and become swollen. Luckily, she found out that she could tolerate Diet Coke. If not, she would surely die of thirst.

Doctors believe the condition started when she gave birth to her son Mitchell in 2005, which caused a “hormonal imbalance.”

Tragically, she can’t even hold her son unless fully clothed because if any of his sweat or dribble touches her, it spells burning pain.

Her condition means there’s a very limited number of jobs she could take up.

And there’s no cure, at least not at the moment.

Another person who suffers from the same condition is Ashleigh Morris, 20 of Australia who’s been in the situation since the age of 14.

Everytime she gets wet, it would take 2 hours for the red lumps to ease.

Even intimate moments with her boyfriend are complicated – they have to sleep with a sheet between them.

The condition developed after an acute case of tonsillitis. A heavy dose of penicillin prescribed to her solved the tonsillitis issue but the new, worse problem appeared soon after.

Her dermatologist said the penicillin had altered her body’s histamine levels.

For pimply teenagers, only one allergy could be worse than that: allergy to acne treatments! Aaargh!!!

Source
Daily Mirror, 21 April 2009

The Daily Mail, 29 Feb 2008

Popularity: 1% [?]

The world’s strangest place to get hitched is probably the cemetery, but how about the Alor Setar, Malaysia wedding of Pang Choon Sim, 25, a mechanic and Kee Wooi Nee, 22.

The couple, in full wedding gear and seated in a fully decorated wedding car, had it pulled by a tow truck from the bride’s house to the groom’s house 2km away.

Not that the car had broken down, but Pang said he always dreamt of a wedding “different from others.” Different it was, with other motorists stopping in their tracks, like being entranced by a “cheap sale” sign.

I hope any bed wedges they use are of the more conventional variety.

As expected from conservative Malaysian families, his family was against the idea at first, but with his fiancee supporting him, they relented.

Source
The Star, 22nd July 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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!

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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 …

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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?

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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?

Popularity: 2% [?]

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 …

Popularity: 1% [?]

…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 …

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 26th January 2010

On 25th January 2010, the High Court ruled that:

- Muhammad Ilyas Abdul Razak, 25 be sent to Hospital Bahagia mental hospital. Forensic psychiatric consultant specialist Dr Rabaiah Mohd Salleh had submitted that he was suffering from bipolar disorder when he committed the offence.
- Muhammad Fauzi Abdul Razak, 23 (his brother) and Muhammad Nizam Mohd Ibrahim, 21 (his cousin) be jailed for 10 years.

That means Muhammad Nizam was guilty of killing his own parents.

All said to be practitioners of Abuya Ashaari, with claims of having the ability to resurrect the dead.

They are responsible for:
- causing the deaths of Mohd Ibrahim Kader Mydin, 48, and Rosina SM Mydin Pillay, 42, at 57C Blok A, Flat Seri Sarawak, Jalan Kenanga on 1st October 2008.
- beating up another 5 family members in a bizarre “cleansing ritual.”

On 10th July 2009, it was revealed in court that other bizarre happenings on that fateful afternoon included:

- everybody seemed to be in a trance and those beaten up did not feel any pain and there was no screaming for help
- Sairah Banu Sultan, 45 was repeatedly slapped by Faezah Abdul Razak, her own daughter, on the orders of Muhammad Ilyas, her own son. During the incident, Muhammad Ilyas called her by her name, not “mother” or anything like that.
- Sofiyah Mohd Ibrahim, 22 was punched in the eyes by her own brother, Muhammad Nizam, on the orders of Muhammad Ilyas. She was later kicked from behind.

Source
The Star, 26 Jan 2010

———————————-

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.

——————————–

ORIGINAL POST: 3rd October 2008

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 4% [?]

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

Popularity: 3% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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) was the most famous castrato singer of the late 19th century, and the only castrato of the classic bel canto tradition to make solo sound recordings.

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

The following is of his last recordings in 1904 when he was 46 years old, hence rightly his voice sounded incredibly eerie:

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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

Popularity: 2% [?]

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

Popularity: 1% [?]

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.

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