China’ may not have been present at the World Cup 2010, in South Africa, but its team of football playing roosters would probably win any competition.

Zhang Lijun has always been a big fan of football, but he decided to take his passion for the sport to a whole new level three years, when he started training his roosters to handle a ball. Now, chickens aren’t exactly famous for their intelligence and ability to learn new things, but Zhang’s roosters have developed mad football skills.

The unusual football team is made up of only two players, and they recently had to go head to head in a mock World Cup match, on the city streets, in Liaoling Province China. Zhang Lijun played the role of the referee, while the two roosters used their feet and wings to handle the ball. Passers-by gathered to watch the bizarre spectacle and were surprised by the bird’s dribbling skills.

Maybe Zhang’s roosters should play in the national football team, or may be he could be the new coach. Either way, China would have a higher chance of qualifying next time.

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That’s right there are people out there who gladly cash out on reenacting the dramatic sinking of the Titanic, in a totally fun way.

An even more surprising is the fact that people actually pay to to go down with the Titanic. I mean COME ON, didn’t you see those tragic scenes from James Cameron’s film where people were hanging on for their lives, while the ship was sinking? Why would you want to go through that, even if it’s in a totally harmless manner?

In the Swiss town of Ibach, the inflatable Titanic slide was pretty popular with the visitors at the local fair, but it ended up being banned, following complaints from Switzerland’s Titanic Club. Spokesman Gunter Babler said “Is it ethical to let kids slide down the decks of a blow up Titanic? Hundreds of people died sliding down those decks.” And a visitor thought “It’s pretty sick. It’s like having a bouncy graveyard. No-one could forget that scene from the Titanic movie with all the people sliding down the decks to their deaths. It’s very insensitive.”

Still, the fair organizer believes “The tragic Titanic accident happened years ago and those emotions have been dealt with long ago. Now people are having fun on the slide and enjoying themselves.” Oh, that makes sense. Hey, I know, how about making an inflatable Auschwitz replica, getting people inside and “gassing” them with laughing gas? That sounds fun, and it’s been so long since the Holocaust there’s no reason why people shouldn’t have fun remembering it…

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Around 1,500 people showed up at the Bottle Inn pub, in Marshwood, Dorset, to see 61 contestants compete in the 2010 edition of the annual Nettle Eating World Championships.

The history of this bizarre eating competition can be traced back to the mid 1980s, when local farmers started the ‘Longest Stinging Nettle’ competition, to see who could grow the longest stem of nettles. Things went along just fine, until 1989, when Alex Williams presented a 15ft 6inches-long nettle, and claimed that if anyone could find a stem longer than his, he would it, As luck would have it, an American actually found a 16ft-long nettle, and Mr. Williams kept his word. From there on in, the competition evolved into the competitive eating challenge we now know as the Nettle Eating World Championships.

On June 19th, competitors were each served two-feet-long stinging nettle stalks, from which they had to pluck and eat the leaves. After an hour of eating, the bare stalks were measured and contestants who ate the most nettles, named winners.

In the men’s competition, first time participant Sam Cunningham managed to eat a whopping 74ft of stinging nettles, and claimed the title of king of the 2010 Nettle Eating World Championships. In the women’s contest, Laura Revell managed to consume 40ft of nettle, and win the title of champion.

Photos by REUTERS/Chris Helgren via Daylife

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The 60 tons of junk that made up the awesome Cathedral of Junk, in Austin, Texas, are probably on their way to the recycling plant right now, leaving us with just photos and memories of the famous roadside attraction.

Vince Hannemann began building the Cathedral of Junk in 1988, just because he thought it would be cool. There’s was no real purpose behind it, just a nice thing to build in an Austin backyard. He was in his mid twenties when he started, and he kept adding do it over the years, until it grew into a 60-ton pile of junk. But it wasn’t really junk, it was just made of it. In reality, the Cathedral of Junk had long become one of the cities most popular attractions. Tourists were coming over just to give Vince something new to add to his masterpiece, but, sadly, that won’t be happening anymore…

After a safety complaint, fro one of his neighbors, real estate inspectors showed up at Vince Hannemann’s door, saying he needed to get a permit, if he wanted to keep his 33-f00t-tall cathedral, made of everything from bicycle wheels to old urinals, computers and lawnmowers. he tried to comply, and together with a team of volunteers, began altering the cathedral to meet required standards. But looking at his beloved creation being reduced to something he didn’t recognize anymore, Vince decided to tear it down. “It already isn’t the Cathedral. It might best be described as Junkhenge,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m not willing to get a permit for the little that is left.”

According to many, this was the work of real estate firms, who did everything they could to bring down the Cathedral of Junk. It’s a sad time for the Austin art world…

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Just because he wasn’t able to travel to South Africa, and support his national team, on the scene, doesn’t mean football fan Mark Thompson can’t experience the vibe of a crowded stadium, right in he comfort of his own living room.

45-year-old Mark Thompson, and his 55-year-old wife Kate decided to pick a theme for this year’s Football World Cup, and after doing some online research, they decided the stadium would do just fine. They covered the side walls of their living room with England emblem wallpaper, designed a six yard line and penalty spot, on their green carpet, and set up a giant poster of the World Cup stadium, complete with drawn supporters.

The English couple were planning to redecorate anyway, and thought this was the perfect way to celebrate the greatest event in football, before giving their house a whole new look. Now they’re ready to invite friends to watch Engalnd’s football games, on a “real” stadium, with a theme for every match. When they played the US, Karen served burgers, with Algeria she will cook curries, and against Slovenia they’ll have goulash.

A big fan of Manchester United, Mark says he’s taken out all the furniture and replaced it with some garden chairs, during the World Cup. Although his wife, Karen, would like things to get back to normal once the football tournament is over, Mark confesses he’d like to keep his makeshift stadium for a lot longer.

via Daily Mail and Oldham Evening Chronicle

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World Cup 2010 Behind Bars is a soccer competition, held in Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison, between 18 seven-player teams, made-up of inmates.

On June 10, the opening match, between Mexico and South Africa, was played on a muddy soccer pitch, inside the Thai prison, under the watchful eyes of dozen guards. It ended in a 1-1 draw, but the prisoners on the sidelines enjoyed every minute of the rare spectacle. They cheered and banged cow bells for the entire match, showing their support for the teams.

The World Cup Behind Bars was also held in 2002 and 2006 and this year it features 18 seven-player teams, from 45 different countries, picked from the prison’s 1,000 inmates population. They can each represent whatever nation they want, even if it’s not their own, and free spots are taken by Thai prisoners.

The winners of the World Cup Behind Bars 2010 will receive a replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

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A young mother, from Exeter, Great Britain, is selling her breast milk online, to earn extra cash, while on maternity leave.

26-year-old Toni Ebdon gave birth to a boy, earlier this year, and was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the amount of breast milk she was producing. One of her friends even joked that she should start a dairy, with the extra milk, and cash-strapped Toni took the idea seriously. Using a breast pump she drained the excess milk and stored it in the freezer. Next she went online and put an ad for breast milk, on Gumtree.

Although she was expecting some replies from new mothers who couldn’t produce enough breast milk for their babies, Toni Ebdon was surprised to find that most of the interested clients were men. It might sound weird, but many adults use breast milk to maintain good health, or cure illnesses such as cancer, diarrhea, or diabetes. Toni charges $26 for 113 grams of her precious milk, and sells it both fresh and stored in the fridge.

The young mother says she hasn’t made loads pf money from selling her breast milk, but since she doesn’t receive full maternity pay, and the baby’s father isn’t able to support them, the extra income is more than welcome. Toni will continue selling breast milk until she dries up, and she’ll definitely do it again, if she has another baby.

via SWNS

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Yang Youd, a Chinese farmer living on the outskirts of Wuhan City, has created his very own canon, and it using it against eviction teams who seek to drive him off of his land.

Using an old wheelbarrow and some pipes, Yang made himself a canon, in a desperate attempt to prevent getting evicted. As ammunition, the brave farmer uses fireworks, sold at local shops, around Wuhan. To make his projectiles reach longer distances, Yang Youd has also built himself a makeshift defense tower, which he climbs from the roof of his house. From there, the home-made canon has a range of 100 meters.

So far he has fended off to eviction attempts. Once, in February, when his rockets ran out, he was saved by the local police, and in May, he successfully drove off 100 people, by firing his canon from the tower. There have yet been no reports of injuries, but if Yang Youd keeps at it, I’d say it’s inevitable.

The resourceful farmer has been offered 300,000 yuan, for his land, and all of his neighbors have already accepted the deals they were offered, but Yuan Youd wants five times the amount, and he’s not going down without a fight.

I know it seems a bit strange a mere farmer could build a canon, but we’ve already seen a Chinese farmer build robots, so this should come as no surprise.

via ImagineChina

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With so many people to drive around, it’s no wonder the Chinese taxi business is so competitive, but authorities are finally doing something about those unlicensed cabs that are ruining perfectly legitimate companies.

To show the world they are committed to riding China of illegal taxi cabs, authorities in Chengdu have invited 50 taxi drivers to publicly destroy 140 illegal vehicles, captured by the police. Armed with iron bars, the drivers released all their anger and frustration on their competition’s cars, until they reduced them to mere scrap metal.

Out of the 140 destroyed cabs, 73 were knock-offs, and 67 were illegal vehicles whose drivers failed to pay their fines, in due time. Most of the illegal taxi cabs in China are put together from scrap metal parts, and made to appear brand new. Their severely used parts and tires often lead to severe accidents, and the cars are very difficult to chase down.

Photos via ImagineChina

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Ever since China’s first 3D newspaper was released, back in April, the public has been asking for more. And they’re about to get it, as a limited number of the Hangzhou-based Daily Business editions are about to be issued, in 3D format.

British tabloid, The Sun, has announced it will be launching the first 3D newspaper, on June 5, a few days before the Soccer World Cup kicks off, in n attempt to raise awareness to the 3D broadcast of the sports event, by Sky News. Sorry guys, but you’re almost two months late, in China, 3D newspapers are already yesterday’s news.

Photos via ImagineChina

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What looks like a bike rider waiting for the green light, in a motorcycle race, is actually a dead man at a wake, in Puerto Rico.

22-year-old David Morales Colon was shot to death, last Thursday, and his family wanted people to remember him doing what he liked most. As the young man had received a brand new Honda CBR600 F4 motorcycle, which he loved, his family asked the funeral home to embalm David and set him in riding position.

The guys at the funeral home did a great job, and David looks like he’s about to drive away any second, but this gesture caused a media stir, at an international level. Apparently this paves the way for other funeral firms to come up with original ideas for this kind of events.

As a guy living in a country where dead people are kept on the living room table, for three days, before being buried, I see this as just a cool way of honoring a person.

Photos by Vanessa Cerra via PrimaHora Read More »

I’m a big video-game fan myself, but I’d rather go out and look for a real date, than stay home and cook sexy Lara Croft a birthday cake.

Love Plus, a Japan-only video-game, for the Nintendo DS, takes the idea of dating a virtual character, a bit further than other relationship simulators. Very similar to that old pet simulator, Tamagotchi, the player must keep his better half happy, by taking her out on dates, talking with her in real time, holding her hand spending quality time together, and, apparently throwing her a hell of a birthday party, complete with cakes and presents.

On April 20, fans of Love Plus celebrated the birthday of one o the game’s most popular characters, Anegasaki Nene. As a video-game character, Nene is practically ageless, but that didn’t stop dozens of players from posting photos from the birthdays they threw for her, on a popular video-game forum.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the strangest thing anyone has done for Anegasaki Nene. Last year, player Sal9000 actually married her, and spent the wedding night in a Tokyo hotel, where they could see the city lights. And I thought Japanese neon fights were weird…

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President Obama may not be as popular as he was when he became president of the United States, but his name is still viewed as a potential client driver.

A Chinese entrepreneur, from Shanghai, China is relying on Barack Obama’s popularity to make his soon-to-open nightclub a profitable venture. The Obama Nightclub is schedule to open on April 26 2010, and as you can see in the photos below, all of Shanghai is full of advertising banners. The website is, unfortunately, under construction.

Odd as it may be, this is really not a bad idea, considering how popular the American president is, in China, You may remember the wacky ways the Chinese people celebrated his visit, last year.

Photos via ImagineChina

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In an event organized by Odor-Eaters, 11-year-old Trinette Robinson proved she had the stinkiest sneakers, and took home the $2,500 prize.

The 35th edition of the Annual National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest had nine kids, aged six to sixteen, battle it out for the title of “wearer of the stinkiest sneakers”. It was a hard contest to judge, considering all participants had already proven their stinky valor, at regional level. To make sure the winner was decided fairly, organizers brought in members of the jury with some serious sniffing abilities. Among them were George Aldrich, chemical specialist for NASA space missions, and Rachel Herz, author of the Scent of Desire, and professor at Brown University.

Pungent sneakers were judged on the condition of the sole, tongue, heel, toe, laces, overall condition, but especially odor. This year’s winner of the Rotten Sneaker Contest was Trinette Robinson, an 11-year-old girl from Bristol, Connecticut. She confessed she played hard in Girl Scout Camp, did a lot of community walks for charity, and took part in the “no-child left inside” program, in order to get her sneakers to smell as bad as they do.

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A Chinese hospital has released images of a 6-year-old boy who was born with 15 fingers and 16 toes. Since more isn’t always better, he’ll soon undergo surgery to have the extras removed.

With a total of 31 fingers and toes, the boy, who’s identity hasn’t been revealed, has beaten the previous record of 25. According to scientists, the excess of fingers and toes is a result of gene mutation.

Photos via ImagineChina Read More »