ERDOS, China (Reuters) - The world's tallest man married a woman two-thirds his size and almost half his age on Thursday in a traditional Mongolian ceremony sponsored by at least 15 companies hoping to cash in on his fame.

Bao Xishun, 56, a 2.36-metre (7-ft, 9-inch) herdsman from China's vast Inner Mongolia region, was carried to his wedding on the back of a mobile yurt pulled by camels at the Genghis Khan holiday resort on the grasslands near Erdos city.

Hundreds of people, some travelling for hours, turned up to see Bao wed saleswoman Xia Shujuan, a mere 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 inches) tall and just 29 years old.
Draped in a shimmering blue silk coat, Bao waved to the crowd before going into an enormous yurt where guests ate lamb and cheese and watched Mongolian song and dance shows.
"If we can have children, we'll have children," Bao told Reuters before the wedding. "If not, then not. If we have a child, I hope he or she can be 1.8-1.9-metres tall. Then he or she can play basketball."
Xia said she was madly in love.

"You need to have feelings for someone to be in love. Even if he is a big shot, you can't love him without feelings," Xia said.

Bao was confirmed as the world's tallest living man by Guinness World Records last year. He overtook the previous holder, Radhouane Charbib of Tunisia, by just 2 mm.

The Guinness World Records says Bao was of normal height until 16 but then put on a spurt that doctors were unable to explain, reaching his full height in seven years.
He put out marriage advertisements around the world, but ended up wedding somebody from his home town, Chifeng.
Bao and his wife were legally married in March, but wanted to also have an authentic Mongolian ceremony.
After a career in the army, where he was recruited for a basketball team, he returned to Inner Mongolia. He now herds livestock and hires himself out for publicity stunts.
In December, Bao saved the lives of two dolphins by reaching deep into their stomachs with his 1.06-metre long arm to pull out pieces of plastic, according to Chinese media.
Because of his fame, Inner Mongolia decided to turn the wedding into a branding event.

"He has a very good image among us in Inner Mongolia," said Bao's agent, Xin Xing. "We plan to use his name as a brand to develop tourism. We want to better help and serve our hometown."
Everything from the liquor drunk at the wedding to the shoes Bao wore were sponsored by a different company.
One firm made a 2.9-metre blanket of camel hair just for the marriage.

Source: Yahoo News

Labels: Interesting-Stuff

Chris Benoit is only one in the long list of freakishly muscled carnival attractions for whom a pro wrestling career ended tragically.

Toxicology results are pending and Benoit may well have been battling deeper, more primal personal demons when he reportedly killed his wife and son before taking his own life, but only the most naive observer could ignore the overwhelming evidence that most wrestlers who look like Benoit have undergone countless cycles of chemical enhancement.

The prescription anabolic steroids found at Benoit's home have long been known to contribute to paranoia, depression and the violent outbursts we've come to know as "roid rage." Couple that with the near-compulsory painkillers a wrestler must take to do his job effectively after enduring countless body slams and you have a cocktail for massive, mind-altering mood swings.

The Benoit story is the latest and most tragic installment in an ongoing saga that the men who get rich promoting professional wrestling would prefer their fans didn't know too much about.

Let's remember some of the others from the world of pro wrestling, who died before their time:

Ravishing Rick Rude














Died at 40 of an apparent heart attack in 1999, a bottle of prescription pills for his bad back at his side. The autopsy report said he died of "mixed medications." Rude was an admitted user of anabolic steroids.

Louis Mucciolo, a.k.a, Louie Spicolli

Died in 1998 at age 27 when he suffocated on his own vomit after ingesting massive amounts of Soma and alcohol. Investigators also found an empty vial of testosterone, pain pills and an anti-anxiety drug at the scene.









Brian Pillman











An admitted user of steroids, he died of a heart attack at age 35 in 1997 on the morning of WWF's In Your House: Badd Blood pay-per-view event.

Rick "the Renegade" Williams










Died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 33 after being released from his World Championship Wrestling contract in 1999.


"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig














Found dead of a cocaine overdose at age 44 in his motel room on April 10, 2003, the morning of a match. Hennig's father maintained that steroids and painkillers contributed to his death.


Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i











Died of a heart attack in 2002 at 34.


Davey Boy Smith, "The British Bulldog"











Died of a heart attack at age 39 on May 17, 2002. An autopsy report indicated that past steroid use had likely played a part in his death.

Michael "Road Warrior Hawk" Hegstrand










He died of a heart attack at age 46 in 2003.


Michael Lockwood, "Crash Holly"














In 2003, at the age of 32, he choked to death on his own vomit after ingesting 90 painkiller pills.

Jerry Tuite, "The Wall" a.k.a. "Malice"














Died at age 36 in 2003 of an apparent heart attack in his hotel room.


Raymond "Hercules" Hernandez














Dead of heart failure in 2004 at age 47.

Ray "The Big Boss Man" Traylor














Found dead of a heart attack in 2004 at age 42.

Eddie Guerrero












After a long battle with painkillers, he was found dead of a heart attack by his nephew in his hotel room at age 38. The first person his nephew reportedly called was Guerrero's best friend, Chris Benoit.

Chris Candido














Died in 2005 at age 33 from a blood clot after breaking his tibia and fibula and dislocating his ankle in a pay-per-view event.

Owen Hart

Fell to his death at age 34 in 1999 when the rigging that was lowering him into the ring malfunctioned.











Thomas Russell Russ Haas


Haas died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 27.










Teddy ''Flyboy Rocco Rock'' Petty

Teddy Petty who also wrestled as The Cheetah Kid, Komodo Dragon II, Col. DeKlerk and as part of the tag team duo Public Enemy, died of a heart attack shortly after a show in New Jersey on Sept. 21 at the age of 49.









Bobby Duncum, Jr.



Duncum Jr. was recovering from an injury when he died of a prescription drug overdose at age 34.









Thomas Gilbert "Eddie hotstuff"



He died only 33 years old of a massive heart attack in his sleep.










Anthony Durante



Durante died on September 25, 2003 along with his wife due to drug overdoses. They overdosed on homemade Oxycontin and were found after lying in their home dead for days, all while their two small children were in the house among the bodies.






Elizabeth Hulette "Miss Elizabeth"

Elizabeth Ann Hulette was a U.S. professional wrestling manager and valet. She gained international fame during the late-1980s and early-1990s in the World Wrestling Federation, and the mid-1990s in World Championship Wrestling in her role as the ever-demure and graceful counterpart to the wild and brash pro wrestling character "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

She died at age 42 of an accidental drug overdose, having ingested some of the medications with vodka.




And then there's the story of the Von Erich wrestling family. Wrestling patriarch Fritz Von Erich, nee Jack Adkisson, had five wrestling sons: Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris.
David Von Erich

David died in a hotel room in Tokyo at the age of 25 in 1984 just as he was embarking on a three-week pro wrestling tour of Japan. The official cause of death was acute enteritis, severe inflammation of the intestines.

Devastated by the deaths of his older brothers and frustrated by his own limitations as a wrestler, the youngest and smallest brother, Chris, shot himself to death at the age of 21 in 1991.

Chris Von Erich

Three years later, Mike committed suicide by overdosing on the tranquilizer Placidyl at the age of 23. After David's death, Mike had suffered a series of setbacks including a serious shoulder injury that had left him severely depressed.

Two years later, Kerry, who had battled a long addiction to painkillers, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 33, leaving eldest brother Kevin as the only survivor of the sport that had defined his family.

Mike Von Erich













Kerry Von Erich













And now Chris Benoit, his wife and son have been added to the long, unbearably sad list of victims claimed, in part, by the brutal chemical calculus that is professional wrestling.

Related posts:
Benoit deaths were murder-suicide
Chris Benoit and Family Found Dead in Georgia Home

Labels: Interesting-Stuff, shocking, sport

These are Japanese sex dolls for sale. The price range is from $1000 to $5000 (the more expensive ones are made with latex that feels like skin to the touch). The president of the doll factory even posed with several of them.
(Click on the images to enlarge)

Labels: Interesting-Stuff

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - People who had obesity surgery got drunk after just one glass of red wine, researchers reported in a small study that was inspired by an episode on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"A lot of people think they can have one glass of wine and be OK," said Dr. John Morton, assistant professor of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center, who is the study's lead author. "The concern here is they really can't."

Morton has performed more than 1,000 gastric bypass, or stomach stapling, surgeries. He said he routinely warns his patients about drinking alcohol, but it wasn't until Winfrey discussed the issue on her show last October that the public really took notice. He said questions poured in.
"I didn't find a whole lot in the literature, so that prompted the study," he said.
The research team gave 36 men and women - 19 who had obesity surgery and 17 who did not - almost 150 millilitres of red wine each to drink in 15 minutes. Using a breathalyzer, their alcohol levels were measured every five minutes until it returned to zero.
More than 70 per cent of the surgery patients hit a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 per cent, which qualifies as legally intoxicated in California, and two reached levels above .15, Morton said.
By contrast, most of the control group had levels below 0.05 per cent, the study reported.
Researchers also found that obesity patients took longer to sober up. After matching the control group with the patient group for age, gender and weight, they found the patients took 108 minutes on average to return to a zero blood-alcohol level versus 72 minutes for the control group.

Morton said the obesity surgery patients don't produce as much of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol because their stomachs are smaller. Also, the alcohol passes to their small intestine faster, speeding up absorption, he said.
The findings, which were presented recently at a meeting of bariatric surgeons, highlight an important warning for obesity patients: "Never have more than a couple of glasses in a single sitting, and don't drive afterward," Morton said.
Meg Semrau, a nurse co-ordinator of Stanford's bariatric program who had gastric bypass surgery herself more than three years ago, said she noticed her tolerance for alcohol was lower after surgery.

"I literally feel it within a couple of sips now," she said. "Flushing in the face, a kind of disequilibrium."

While some experts took issue with the study's size and methodology, they said it basically confirmed what they had suspected for some time: People who have gastric bypass surgery are more sensitive to alcohol.
Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the weight management centre at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said Morton's results support alcohol warnings normally given to gastric bypass patients. However, she called drinking almost 150 millilitres of wine in 15 minutes an "artificial" test. No one - let alone bariatric surgery patients - would be advised to drink that amount of alcohol so quickly, she said.
In fact, Fernstrom said patients are discouraged from drinking alcohol because it is a "waste of calories."

"Alcohol is not part of a healthful diet for gastric bypass surgery patients," she said. "If this is a pleasant part of life to certain people on special occasions, it must be monitored and discussed with their surgeon."

Via: CTV.ca

Labels: health-beauty, Interesting-Stuff

Roy Cleveland Sullivan (February 7, 1912 – September 28, 1983) was a U.S. forest ranger in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Sullivan was hit by lightning on seven different occasions and survived all of them. In his lifetime he gained "Human Lightning Rod" as a nickname.

Roy suffered assorted losses during these encounters: toenails, eyebrows, hair, and eventually his nerve. After the fourth incident he started to believe some higher power was trying to kill him, according to a 1989 St. Petersburg Times article; the fifth time came after he tried unsuccessfully to outrun a cloud he thought was following him. Lightning didn't end up killing Roy, though — he took his own life at age 71.

Two of his ranger hats are on display at two Guinness World Exhibit Halls in New York City and South Carolina.

The Seven Lightning Strikes

* 1942: Sullivan was hit for the first time when he was in a fire lookout tower. The lightning bolt struck him in a leg and he lost a nail on his big toe.

* 1969: The second bolt hit him in his truck when he was driving on a mountain road. It knocked him unconscious and burned his eyebrows.

* 1970: The third strike burned his left shoulder while in his front yard.

* 1972: The next hit happened in a ranger station. The strike set his hair on fire. After that, he began to carry a pitcher of water with him. He also started to believe that some higher power was trying to kill him, according to a 1989 St. Petersburg Times article.

* August 7, 1973: A lightning bolt hit Sullivan on the head, blasted him out of his car, and again set his hair on fire.

* June 5, 1974: Sullivan was struck by the sixth bolt in a campground, injuring his ankle. It came after he tried unsuccessfully to outrun a cloud he thought was following him.

* June 25, 1977: The seventh and final lightning bolt hit him when he was fishing. Sullivan was hospitalized for burns in his chest and stomach.

Ignoring Bayesian considerations, the chances of being struck seven times in your life are about 1:1.6 x 1025 .

External links: 1, 2, 3

Labels: Interesting-Stuff, shocking

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A 21-year-old man got the ride of a lifetime when his electric wheelchair became lodged in the grille of a semitrailer and was pushed down a highway for several miles at about 50 mph.




In this photo released by the Michigan State Police, Ben Carpenter is shown in his motorized wheelchair stuck to the front grill of this semi truck where he was pushed eastbound on Red Arrow Highway near Paw Paw, Michigan. (AP)







Ben Carpenter was unharmed but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt. Carpenter, who has muscular dystrophy, told a television station that he thought he might not make it through the ride.
"I was probably thinking that this is going to keep going and not stop anywhere, 50 or 60 miles somewhere," he told WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids.
Ben Carpenter’s father, Donald, told The Associated Press that his son had started to cross at an intersection Wednesday afternoon in Paw Paw, about 140 miles west of Detroit. The light changed to green while his son was in front of a semi, which started moving.
The wheelchair’s handles became lodged in the grille, the father said, and the wild ride started.
Motorists called 911 on their cell phones, and a pair of undercover police officers who happened to be nearby saw what was happening. They pulled the truck over and told the disbelieving driver, Donald Carpenter said.
The chair was undamaged except for losing most of the rubber on its wheels, he said.
"It’s a very bad story that ended very well," he said. "We’re just thrilled that he’s still around."

Via: BostonHerald

Labels: Interesting-Stuff, worlds-news

An Albanian cat has adopted three puppies, feeding them herself, after the death of their mother.

Fascinated visitors pass by to look in on the puppies who appear quite content as they suckle hungrily from the cat. The puppies mother Shila was killed by a car, and the cat lost her own kitten at the same time.

Not having her own offspring to look after, she has taken the puppies into her care.

"I was very sorry that my dog Shila died and left three orphan puppies," said the owner of the pets, 13-year old Kristian Marku. "I had also a pretty cat who had a small kitten, but her kitten also died. Then, every day, she got closer to the puppies. She began feeding them and I helped her to feed them. Everyday she is taking care of them and suckling them. She loves them as much as she loved her kitten," he added.

Labels: Interesting-Stuff

Microsoft has unveiled a new touch-sensitive coffee table-shaped computer called "Surface".
Designed to do away with the need for a traditional mouse and keyboard, users can instead use their fingers to operate the computer.
Also designed to interact with mobile phones placed on the surface, Microsoft says it will initially sell the unit to corporate customers.
These will include hotels, casinos, phone stores and restaurants.

'Multi-touch'

So-called "multi-touch" interfaces - which allow the user to move several fingers on a screen to manipulate data, rather than relying on a mouse and menus - have been making waves in tech circles for some time.

With a 30-inch screen, Surface will initially sell for between $5,000 and $10,000 (£2,525-£5,050).

However, Microsoft said it aimed to produce cheaper versions for homes within three to five years.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6703249.stm

Microsoft Surface Presentation video:

Labels: gadgets, Interesting-Stuff, technology

The "Ocean Dome" in Myazaki, Japan features the world's largest retractable roof over an all-weather swimming pool.
It’s located in Miyazaki, Kyushu Island.

The size is impressive. In fact, Ocean Dome is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest indoor water park, measuring 300 meters in length, 100 meters in width. And the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius year-round.

When you walk in, you are greeted by a beach of pure white sand and a paradise of eternal Summer.

You can watch the surfers on the artificial waves of The Great Bank or try body-boarding yourself.

There are quite a few differences between the Ocean Dome and the ocean, among them the heated indoor pool, the kids’ pool, the floating pool, and the three fast and thrilling water slides. Everyone feels like a child when playing in the water.

Within the dome, there are shops where you can rent the latest in swimsuit fashions or whet your appetite with drinks, fast food, light snacks, or full-scale restaurants that serve up the best in local Miyazaki cuisine.

Why not forget your schedules, your time tables, and your worries and just spend a day playing in the water.

Entrance to the indoor beach costs US$ 50, which seems especially expensive given that there is a free, natural beach only 300 metres away.
(Click on images to enlarge them)

Labels: Interesting-Stuff, travel

JERUSALEM — A man clad only in underwear and a T-shirt wrestled a wild leopard to the floor and pinned it for 20 minutes after the cat leapt through a window of his home and hopped into bed with his sleeping family.

"This kind of thing doesn't happen every day," said 49-year-old Arthur Du Mosch, a nature guide. "I don't know why I did it. I wasn't thinking, I just acted."

Raviv Shapira, who heads the southern district of the Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority, said a half dozen leopards have been spotted recently near Du Mosch's small community of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert in southern Israel, although they rarely threaten humans.

Shapira said it was probably food that lured the big cat. Leopards living near humans are usually too old to hunt in the wild and resort to chasing down domestic dogs and cats for food, he added.

Du Mosch's cat was in the bed with him at the time, along with his young daughter who had been frightened by a mosquito in her own room.

Shapira said the leopard was very weak when park rangers arrived at Du Mosch's home after the surprise late-night visit. He said nature officials would likely release it back into the wild.

Du Mosch said he probably would not have been able to control the big cat were it in better health. As a nature guide, he said, he was familiar with animals and did his best to hold down the leopard without harming it. He said he took it all in stride, "but the kids were excited."

Source: Fox News

Labels: Interesting-Stuff

A 60-year-old New Jersey psychologist gave birth to two boys Tuesday, making her possibly the oldest woman ever to deliver twins in the United States.

Frieda Birnbaum gave birth to "Baby A" at 12:44 p.m. and "Baby B" a minute later by Caesarean section at Hackensack University Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Radwin said. The twins each weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, she said.

Birnbaum told CBS' The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm that age and longevity were not considerations for her. "I didn't know I was that old. And then I'm looking at the media and seeing '60-year-old woman.' I said, 'That's me?' Because I don't know what age means, you know? I feel like a 40-year-old."

"It's being defined as something incredible. I'm not doing anything incredible; my energy, my pregnancy, my delivery — there were no complications.

Birnbaum, a psychologist from Saddle River, underwent in-vitro fertilization last year in Cape Town, South Africa, at a center that specializes in older women. She and her husband, Ken, a New York attorney, have been married for 38 years.

"I suppose age has been redefined, hopefully," she told Storm, admitting that her television appearance was in part to let other women know that "if they feel like it and they feel young enough, go do whatever it is you want to do. It's about empowerment for women."

Birnbaum was not concerned by the fact that she would be 80 when her twin boys attend college. "My parents both lived on into their 90s," she said. "My father was 92; my mother was 89. They were mentally sound. And they'd both be alive [today] if not for medical negligence. So we've had no problems with that decision, as far as longevity is concerned."

She said she and her husband wanted their 6 ½-year-old boy to have siblings of a comparable age. (They have two older children — a son, 33, and a daughter, 29).

Coincidentally, Tuesday was the birthday of twins born one year ago to a 59-year-old woman — also to a New Jersey woman. Lauren Cohen gave birth to Gregory and Giselle on May 22, 2006, at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Cohen said Birnbaum contacted her after seeing her name in a magazine and that the two quickly became friends.

"We talked about babies; I suggested things that would be helpful when you try to feed two babies simultaneously," Cohen said.

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: CBS News

Labels: Interesting-Stuff, worlds-news

Article: TimesOnline

A year old cat Nimra decided to raise these little chickens.

Labels: animals, Interesting-Stuff