The frantic lifestyle of a fast-living fish September 12, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Lifestyle.comments closed
Fast-living fish swims into record books
Queensland marine researchers say there are good reasons for the frantic lifestyle of the world’s shortest-living fish.
The Guinness Book of Records has recognised the Australian coral reef pygmy goby, which lives for about 59 days, as the fish with the shortest lifespan on the planet.
James Cook University’s David Bellwood submitted the goby for world record scrutiny.
Professor Bellwood says it spends only 21 days as an adult fish and lives a fast life mainly because of predators.
“These things are being eaten, something like 8 per cent disappear every day,” he said.
“If you have got a gang of 10 of them each day pretty much you lose one of them.
“They only really get for a female three goes at it, so for a female will lay three batches of young and that’s if they manage to make it for their full life span.”
Namibia’s BBQ world record bid September 12, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Food Drinks News.comments closed
Safety fears scuttle Namibia’s BBQ world record bid
Namibia has narrowly missed out on breaking a world record after safety fears forced organisers to abandon what could have been the world’s biggest ever barbecue.
Thousands of people had gathered at a sports stadium in the Namibian capital Windhoek to feast on an eight-kilometre-long sausage in an effort to beat Australia’s record, set 13 years ago.
But after the barbecue, organisers said the crowd began pushing at the gates, forcing them to stop the count “to avoid people getting trampled”.
Namibia needed to feed 44,159 people to break the Guinness World Record and when organisers called off the counting they were just 152 short.
Allen Brough said they had counted 44,007 people by sunset. (more…)
Fame ‘embarrasses’ YouTube guitar star September 12, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Entertainment.comments closed
South Korean student Lim Jeong-hyun has basked in five minutes and 20 seconds of fame in front of almost 9 million viewers.
About two weeks ago, The New York Times identified Mr Lim, 22, as the mysterious man bathed in sunlight who played guitar in one of YouTube.com’s most-watched videos of all time.
A video simply titled “guitar” appeared on YouTube, a popular video-sharing website, about eight months ago.
It shows a young man sitting between his desk and bed, bowing his head so that his baseball cap covers his eyes, ferociously playing a rock version of Johann Pachelbel’s Canon- music often played at weddings.
The guitarist’s face is never seen, and the footage focuses on his fingers.
His real name is not mentioned in the video, but he calls himself “funtwo”.
The austerity of the clip and the new interpretation of a well-known piece of music has fascinated millions.
After the article, the shy Mr Lim woke up one day in late August and found himself famous.
Local media picked up what The New York Times had reported and Mr Lim’s tale was told by major South Korean newspapers and TV networks.
“I was so embarrassed because I had too many phone calls and too many visitors all of the sudden,” he told Reuters Television at a music studio in Seoul.
Intrigue
Many of the people who posted comments on YouTube wanted to know the guitarist’s identity.
Many complimented his playing, while some questioned if he was aided by electronics and a few said he was a fraud.
The clip has become YouTube’s second-most discussed video after one of people lip syncing a video game theme song.
With short hair, dyed dark brown, glasses and a T-shirt, Mr Lim hardly looks the part of a guitar hero – and he does not consider himself one either.
“I became famous not because my playing technique was great, but because the Pachelbel’s Canon arranged by Jerry C was a very popular piece,” he said.
The New York Times has reported that Jerry Chang, a guitarist from Taiwan, composed the arrangement Mr Lim played.
TV performance (more…)
A Japanese fairytale September 12, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Entertainment.comments closed
Couple jailed over ‘royal’ wedding rip-off
A fairytale story ended behind bars for a Japanese couple, when they were jailed for staging an elaborate fake royal wedding to defraud guests.
Yasuyuki Kitano and Harumi Sakamoto, both in their 40s, invited hundreds of guests – including Japanese celebrities – to a wedding reception in 2003, saying that Kitano was a member of a defunct branch of the imperial family.
Guests at Japanese weddings traditionally bring with them gifts of at least 30,000 yen ($US260) in cash.
Pictures shown on television at the time showed Sakamoto in the “junihitoe” 12-layered kimono worn by women of the imperial household on formal occasions.
“It was a malicious crime that cleverly took advantage of a mentality for revering the imperial court and imperial family,” Kyodo news agency quoted judge Takaaki Oshima as saying.
Are you a shoe-fashion victim? September 12, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Fashion.comments closed
Shoe shoplifter busted taking stolen goods back
A bungling German thief stole a pair of shoes in two different sizes and was caught when he went back to the shop to fix his mistake, decked out in the clothes he had also stolen, authorities say.
Police in the western city of Bielefeld say the shop owner recognised the 20-year-old shoplifter because the white shoes and sports jacket he wore were available only in his shop, and had been stolen just two days earlier.
“You have to wonder why he went back into the shop in the stolen get-up,” a spokeswoman for Bielefeld police said.
“It seems he may not have been the brightest of thieves.”
The owner spotted the man as he attempted to switch of the wrong-sized shoe and alerted police, who arrested the thief.
