Agr!

Arg! I am very very very sorry for neglecting to post recently. I have not fallen into a hole somewhere, I have just been really busy in a good way. This week is the busiest week I have had in a really long time. This post will be a re-posting of some posts from the first two months of this blog. I am sorry for this, but I promise to have an original post as soon as I have the time. Thank you for your patience.

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

Here are some odd street names:

• Bear Bottom Dr - central Pennsylvania
• Cowshit Ln. - central Pennsylvania
• Imalone Rd. - northern Wisconsin
• Zzyzx Rd. - California (how do you pronounce that?)
• Horne Street intersects with E Church Street. - As Hormazd N Sethna said,
  "Telling someone you'll meet them at the, Horne-E Church Intersection is
  disturbingly provocative."
• Grinn Drive and Barret Road intersect in West Chester, Ohio
• Clinton and Fidelity intersect in Huston, Texas
• In Tennessee, the only road leading up to Constipation Ridge is Farfrompoopen Road.
• For pictures, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4766448.stm.

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.

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

• 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

There was no gravestone for "Steady" Ed Headrick when he died. Instead, as he wished, his ashes were molded into Frisbees and given to his family. Known for his sense of humor, he quipped, "We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion — ‘Frisbyterians,’ we’d call ourselves. When we die, we don’t go to purgatory. We just land up on the roof and lay there."

To read the full story, visit http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/August/13/local/stories/10local.htm

• In 2001, Doctors performed surgery on a 40-year-old Ethiopian man and removed 750 grams (26.344 ounces) of nails, door keys, hair pins and watch batteries. The man had 222 metal objects in his stomach and one of the nails was 15 cm (5.9 inches) long. Dr. Samuel said, " He must have been eating these objects for at least two years, as the wall of his stomach had thickened to accommodate all the inedible objects." - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1402616.stm



• Monsieur Mangetout has made a career out of eating metal objects and has no side-effects. For his performances, he drinks mineral water and then chows down 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of metal with periodic glasses of water. Perhaps he is best known for eating an entire airplane (Cessna 150-see picture above) which took him about 2 years to eat.

• Ramon Barrero entertained others by playing on "the world's smallest harmonica." However, during a 1994 performance, he inhaled a D-minor, chocked to death and died.

• When composer George Antheil's unique music inspired his audience in Budapest to riot, the next night he had all the doors locked and set a gun on the piano. That night he enjoyed a quiet performance, but with audiences often strongly disliking his new style of music, he began to carry a concealed gun for concerts. In his words, "I felt for the automatic under my arm and continued playing...but catastrophe and myself at concerts were old pals...Besides, I could always shoot my way out."


• For more on Antheil and mp3s of his music, go to http://www.paristransatlantic.com/antheil/mainpage/home.html

What is 007's favorite drink? . . . Not a vodka martini. But that doesn't mean Bond doesn't like his alcohol. on the contrary, in the novels James Bond drinks once about every 7 pages and prefers whiskey, drinking 101 in all. For an in-depth survey go to http://007.atomicmartinis.com/nstats.htm.