Curious
Times No. 367
September 21, 2006
PERFORMANCE
ENHANCING DRUGS MANDATORY
If you’re looking for a more exciting way to keep in shape
you might want to check out YesButNoButYes.com
for cool descriptions of “The 10 Most Obscure Sports in the
World.” Among the weirdness are these gems: No. 8, Surf Life
Saving, which combines “the grace and beauty of watersports
with the thrill of cardiac arrest.” No. 6 combines all dog-related
sports, including dog racing, dog sledding, and dog tossing. No.
4 examines the U.S. Association of Rock, Paper, Scissors. No.
2 is Unicycle Hockey (what else are you gonna do with your unicycle
that doesn’t involve getting beaten up?) and at No. 1 are
the Extreme Ironing World Championships, which “combines
the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction
of a well pressed shirt.”
FAT IS THE NEW STARVING
Remember how we used to worry about all the starving people in
the world? You’d think there would be a massive celebration
if we ever solved that problem, wouldn’t you? But no... instead
we are now being warned that obesity has reached pandemic proportions
and threatens to bankrupt health budgets throughout the world.
This is according to scientists at the 10th International Congress
on Obesity, which announced that there are now more overweight
people in the world (1 billion) than there are undernourished
people (800 million). And no, they didn’t report this as
good news. Instead they warn that obesity is the “single
greatest contributor to chronic disease throughout the world.”
Some people are never satisfied. (Breitbart.com)
YOU CAN’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS TITLE
There is a book for sale at Amazon called “0.1361015212836455566789110512013615...”
That title is curious enough in itself, but even better is this
short description I found in a book review: “A martial arts
instructor by day, not even a science fiction fan, Tyrone Vadas
has been receiving strange visits lately from a gargantuan alien
with numerous undulating appendages. The alien returns every night
attempting to give Tyrone a special gift. But he doesn't want
it. Then the numbers begin. They go on and on and never seem to
end. Will Tyrone ever accept the alien's gift? And could the multitude
of numbers be signaling the end of the f u c k i n g world?”
THE REAL QUESTIONS IS, HOW CUTE IS THAT SPERM?
As if it’s not bad enough being ugly, we now learn that ugly
men’s sperm is weaker and slower than the sperm of handsome
men. Studies carried out at the University of Valencia in Spain
rated the quality of test subjects sperm nd then had a group of
women rate photos of the men according to the attractiveness of
their facial features. Surprisingly, the study concluded that
men who rated most attractive by the women generally had sperm
which was stronger and travelled faster than the sperm of less
attractive men. (New
Scientist)
IS THAT A STICK SHIFT OR ARE YOU JUST GLAD TO SEE ME?
A poll of 15 European nations found that Russians are by far the
worst drivers in that part of the world. According to this report
Russians rarely wear their seatbelts, occasionally drive drunk,
and regularly speed. Oh, and the reason I brought this survey
up in the first place -- 25 percent of Russians have had sex while
driving. (Mosnews.com)
HOW TO GET LAID IF YOU’RE AN AWKWARD ZIT-FACED TEEN...
A study of 11,700 college students found that those who started
drinking before the age of 13 were twice as likely to have unplanned
or unprotected sex than those who didn't drink until after the
age of 19. Gee, I wonder if there is a connection?
I AM MAN, HEAR ME CROAK
A study of over 1,400 thunderstorm-related deaths carried out
at the University of Pittsburgh found that over 70 per cent of
those killed by floods and lightning strikes during storms are
men. And the reason why the vast majority of victims are men?
The researchers came to the simple conclusion that men are more
likely to stay out during a storm. "I would say they make
poor decisions," said Dr. Thomas Songer, who carried out
the research, "Men tend to be optimists. They all think...they're
never going to be hit by lightning." Most deaths occurred
while the men were involved in sports or recreational activities
(36.3%), followed by people working (21.8%) and people out boating
and fishing (15.2%). As well, over 65 per cent of flash flood
victims were men trying to drive around barricades or drive on
flooded roads.
HOLY HUG
Mata Amritanandamyi Math, a 47-year old Indian holy woman has
been travelling throughout Asia and Europe healing people with
her "spiritual energy hugs". Amma, as she is known to
her devotees, draws audiences of up to 18,000 per day and sleeps
only two hours a night. It is estimated that she has hugged 20
million people to date. (Amritapuri.org)
I-READ-IT-ON-THE-INTERNET-SO-IT-MUST-BE-TRUE FACT OF THE WEEK
Men who don't shave every day are 70 percent more likely to have
a stroke than men who shave every day.
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