Judging Judy

According to the NY Times, Judge Judy's annual salary is "$26 million more than the combined annual salaries of all nine United States Supreme Court justices."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/arts/dance/31john.html?ref=arts

handy skirt!

Aya Tsukioka has started a Japanese clothing line aimed at those who fear crime. Featured above is a skirt which folds out to disguise the wearer as a vending machine. Also featured is a purse resembling a manhole cover and a backpack that can disguise a child as a fire-hydrant. Aya admits, " These ideas might strike foreigners as far-fetched, but in Japan, they can become reality.” She has already sold 20 skirts at $800 apiece.

To see a slideshow of these inventions: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/10/20/world/20071020_JAPAN_SLIDESHOW_index.html

To read an article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/asia/20japan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

costly split

Madame Tussauds is a series of international celebrity waxwork museums which paid £10,000 to separate their wax models of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Even more ironic, Brad and Jennifer were the first human waxworks they had ever joined together.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4566526.stm (number 17)

Wow!

Paul Smith (1921-2007) had severe cerebral palsy but created fantastic pieces of art on his typewriter. For each key, he had to use his left hand to steady his right hand. Using only the symbols:

@ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _

he created hundreds of pieces of art, often giving them away. The pictures above, like all of his art, was created entirely by him on his typewriter.

To learn more about Paul, visit http://www.paulsmithfoundation.org/index.html

To see more of his amazing artwork, see http://www.paulsmithfoundation.org/main_gallery.html

To catch a video of him working, look at http://www.paulsmithfoundation.org/videos/incredible_sunday_clip_01.mov

Blobfish

Behold, the blobfish that lives off Australia and Tasmania. To remain buoyant in the deep ocean, it mainly is a "gelatinous mass." Because it is slightly less dense than water, the fish floats above the sea floor and eat what floats by.
To see more interesting animals, check out http://www.alistoflists.com/animals/10-weird-as-hell-animals#comments

free trade?

In a "conceptual art" project, Kristian von Hornsleth offered to give Ugandan villagers free goats, sheep and pigs if they adopted his name. His exibition in Copenhagen, "We Want to Help You, but We Want to Own You," has pictures of 108 villagers holding ID cards with his name. Before the project was stopped in October 2006, 270 villagers had changed their names.

George Sabadu Hornsleth commented: "Africans adopting European names for gifts - that's nothing new. We've been doing that since colonial times. Why do you think I'm called George?"

From his press release, the artist comments: "“Basically I believe in free trade. You sell something to me, and I buy something from you. In this case the Africans are fond of the animals that I offer them – and I am happy to be able to give them a beautiful name and to make some art. The result is that both parts are happy. Nothing else matters."

For pictures of the villagers: http://www.hornsleth.com/template/t03.php?menuId=52.

For an article: http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=609&id=1715632006

I will never understand some art

• Samuel Beckett wrote the 35 second play Breath. The one page script decribes a debris filled stage filled with faint light, then stronger light, then faint light again. Also included is a faint human cry, a human breath and another faint human cry. Rather unsuprisingly, Petherbridge, who brought the play to London, descibes the audience's reaction as "respectful silence" or "uncontrollable mirth." http://samuel-beckett.net/Londoners_gasp.htm


• Marcel Duchamp created the piece Fountain by signing a urinal "R. Mutt." In 2004, it was voted the 20th century's most influential artwork. >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_%28Duchamp%29

tierd arms

Picture by Sheila Rock

In Vienna, after playing the Moor of Venice in the opera Othello, Placcido Domingo received 80 minutes of solid clapping and took 101 curtain calls.

Recommended: To hear him sing, listen to http://www.musicremedy.com/p/Placido_Domingo/videos/TAmo_Piu-5483.html

To read more about him, check out http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/40730923.

Much easier to remember!

The world's longest acronym was found in the USSR:

NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT

Meaning:
Laboratory for Shuttering, Reinforcement, Concrete and Ferroconcrete Operations for Composite-monolithic and Monolithic Constructions of the Department of Technology of Building Assembly Operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for Building Mechanization and Technical Aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR.

That's easy to remember. Now just tell me what it means!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/teachers/literacy_7_11/word/newsid_1651000/1651769.stm

Odd but helpful

If you are planning a wedding and want to save money, rent your wedding cake. You heard me! For $100-150 dollars, display a pristine plastic foam, gum paste and fondant cake to your guests. Pull the happy couple's special slice of wedding cake out of a secret compartment in the back. Then serve cheap sheet cake to your guests. Odd, but extremely practical and thrifty.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/12/business_rents_out_fake_wedding_cakes/

Cool but not for the easily dizzy.

Ah. The dear old American Gov.

Due to a policy of the Department of Defense usually paying shipping bills to US bases or combat zones automatically, the twin sisters who own C&D Distributors made $20.5 in illegal money over 6 years. They once charged $998,798 shipping to send two 19-cent washers to a base in Texas. They were caught and charged when they tried to send two more washers, this time for $969,000. Said Pentagon investigator Stroot: "“They took a lot of vacations."
http://www.litwc.com/2007/08/16/pentagon-paid-999798-to-ship-two-19-cent-washers-to-texas/

Cockroaches

• Ken Edwards of London ate 36 cockroaches in one minutes. His comment: "It's like having an anesthetic at the back of the throat." http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/amazing_feats/unusual_skills/most_cockroaches_eaten.aspx
• In Australia, there is an Annual Cockroach Racing Championship for Australia Day. Some participant comments: ""It's great, we've taken one of our national animals and made it into a mascot, after all they're as much a part of Australia as the koala or kangaroo and far more common." http://www.2camels.com/world-championship-cockroach-racing.php
• Also in Australia, this time at the Lizard Racing track, there stands a plaque that reads: "Cunnamulla-Eulo Festival of Opals. 'Destructo', champion racing cockroach accidentally killed at this track (24.8.1980) after winning the challenge (sic) stakes against 'Wooden Head' champion racing lizard 1980. Unveiled 23.8.81" http://www.whereintheworld.co.uk/newsite/detail.php?recordID=107
• Now for this facts: I could only find it on one website. While it is copied and pasted onto many other websites and blogs, I can't vouch for its accuracy. But even if it isn't accurate, it is amusing to think about: Rita Carlson of California raised a foot-long and almost 2-pound cockroach. Her take on it: ""Plenty of protein, and plenty of good, natural vitamins helped to make this roach into a champion. You should have seen it when I first found crawling around my kitchen." http://www.ijmc.com/archives/1998/July/26July1998.html
• Cockroaches have 18 knees, can hold their breath for 40 minutes and go a month without food and a week without water. Also, the female German cockroach only has to mate once to lay eggs for the rest of her life. http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/roaches/pg000097.html : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockroach

eeek!

• Sally Mae Wallace of Mississippi holds the honor for the world's longest tapeworm. All 37 feet of it was pulled out of her mouth. Said Sally: "“About after 20 feet of that thing had come out of my mouth. I just knew I had the record. I was really filled with joy.” http://www.ripleys.com/core/answers/?p=362#comment-55


• Glen Keizer of Australia endured a straight 42 hours and 10 minutes tattoo session. http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long63.html


• The longest movie title: "Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound, Zombified Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230575/combined

Hungry and Broke

Are you hungry and have money to spend? Why not have a look at my specialized menu of most expensive food?

Drinks:

• $1,500 cocktail. http://www.pocketchangenyc.com/NewsLetter.asp?nid=21
• If you can't afford that, try the $50 cocktail with 23K liquid gold. http://nymag.com/listings/bar/world_bar/
• Or a $165 Truffletini in a 3ft tall glass with truffle shavings. http://nymag.com/daily/food/2006/11/ok_so_the_new_contendor.html
• Or If you don't like alcohol, indulge with the $14,000 diamond-studded tea bag. http://www.luxist.com/2005/02/25/worlds-most-expensive-tea-bag/

Food:

• A $1,000 omelet with $995 of caviar. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/normas/
• A $200 baked potato topped with truffle shavings. http://www.nysun.com/article/40836
• $120 hamburger. http://www.thisnext.com/item/5839CC68/DB-Burger-120-from-DB-Bistro
• Try the $1,000 pizza topped with eight ounces of four different kinds of Petrossian caviar, lobster, salmon and wasabi. Be sure to give them 24 hours notice. http://www.slashfood.com/2007/03/15/1000-pizza-in-nyc/

Dessert:

• $1,000 ice cream sundae served with an 18K gold spoon and topped with edible 23K gold. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/14/worlds-most-expensiv.html
• A $20,000,000 wedding cake studded with diamonds. http://linkdonkey.blogspot.com/2006/10/expensive-cakes.html
• A $1,500,000 box of gourmet chocolates and jewelry. http://www.lakeforestconfections.com/Store/LeChocolat.aspx

And not to put a damper on the party, but this month (Oct 2007), a 52 year old man living in urban Japan starved to death. His last words in his journal: "3 a.m. This human being hasn’t eaten in 10 days but is still alive. I want to eat rice. I want to eat a rice ball.”

• cost of a rice ball in Japan- $1 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/asia/12japan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I'm confused.

Stanford's University's team name used to be "the Indians," but was changed to "The Cardinals" in 1972. Their mascot is now a tree. Seen in the Cardinal's picture above, the dollies (dancers) walk with their Tree mascot down to the field, led by by the leader of their band in an astronaut costume. Hmmm.
Another team name that was considered was the Thunder Chickens, and two other considered mascots were the French Fry and the Manhole.
Anonymous explains: "Just so you know - It's the Stanford Cardinal. It's the color, not the bird.
And the tree is derived from the Stanford logo and Palo Alto city seal, both of which prominently display a lone tree."
I still love it. I wish my school had an interesting mascot.

To read the full story, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Tree

Use those pennies!