Most Extremely Miraculous Survivors

In our life we come across some miraculous and incredible survival stories which leave us in awe and admiration. All such stories teach us one thing that struggle for survival requires will of high magnitude; a desire to live and go back to family. This strong will has miraculously brought people back from death against all odds.

10. A Model Whose Body is Held Together with 11 Metal Rods

Telegraph

The charming and beautiful model, Katrina Burgess survived a fatal car accident which had broken her neck, back and ribs, injured her pelvis and punctured her lungs along with and a number of other injuries. She was driving at 70mph when her car left the M5 and crashed into a ditch. She today is a famous model with 11 metal rods and countless pins and screws in her body. The doctors had to insert rod from her hip to her knee in her left leg the day after she was admitted to hospital. It was secured inside with four titanium pins. A week later, they sliced open her back and inserted six more horizontal rods up the length of her back to support her spine. A week after that, they inserted a titanium screw to the top of her spine to support the break in her neck. She struggled for 5 months before she could live without taking pain killers.

9. Aron Ralston’s Survival

KevinMoloney

Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) a mechanical engineer and an American Mountaineer was forced to amputate his lower right arm to free himself after his arm became trapped by a boulder when he was mountaineering in Utah.

On April 2003, Aron Ralston was climbing in Canyonlands National Park in southeaster Utah when a 800 pound boulder fell on him and pinned his right arm. Ralston had not told anyone of his hiking plans and knew no one would be searching for him. Aron lay pinned for nearly four days before he ran out of water. He was trapped and couldn’t move. He then started drinking his own urine. He carved his name, date of birth and presumed date of death into the sandstone canyon wall, and recorded his last goodbyes to his family in his camera in his video camera. When he was about to die he decided to struggle. He forcibly levered his forearm against a chockstone until both the radius and ulna bones broke. He cut his arm with his dull knife. He then hiked down a 65 foot wall. While hiking out, he encountered a family. The family gave him water and two Oreo cookies. They then alerted the authorities. He was finally rescued by a helicopter search team. The rescue team retrieved his arm, which was cremated later.

In his book, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” he describes his experiences. The 33-year-old doesn’t fear climbing and continues climbing. His climbing ventures include a 2008 expedition to climb Ojos del Salado and Monte Pissis and all of Colorado’s 55 peaks higher than 14,000 feet. He is also a motivational speaker. He is living a normal life, is married and father of a child. English film director Danny Boyle is currently working on the film 127 Hours about the true story of Ralston.

8. Wenseslao Moguel Survived 9 Bullets in Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a 7 years long major armed struggle that started in 1910 led by Francisco I. Madero against Porfirio Diaz. On March 18, 1915 a soldier Wenseslao Moguel was captured while fighting in the revolution. He was sentenced to death without any trial. A firing squad shot him 9 times including a close ranged bullet fired through his head and face shot by an officer to ensure his death. The executers left him there assuming him to be dead. He miraculously managed to escape and lived a lively and energetic life. The above photo shows Moguel in 1937 pointing at his scar on the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not radio show.

7. Woman Gave Birth to Child during Brain Surgery – Both Survived

Yulia Shumakova, a 24 year old Russian girl from the city of Yekaterinburg was brought to the hospital in extremely critical condition when she went unconscious after returning from work one day. She was 32 weeks pregnant at that time. Examination surfaced a dangerous seizure in her brain. Doctors told her husband that 96% of such patients die on their way to the hospital.

“Honestly speaking, I didn’t believe at that point that she would survive,” her husband Aleksandr confessed.

“I spoke to the doctors – they said such diagnosis led to death in 96 per cent of cases. People die in the ambulance, and almost never make it to the hospital”.

Doctors decided to do a brain surgery along with a Caesarian Section. Chances were minute but the mother the child and the doctor’s struggle successfully defeated death. May be it was a mother’s love for her child which gave her the energy and will to struggle death and come back to life to hold her son in her arms. Baby was born prematurely but he survived.

6. Frank Selak Encountered Eight Deadliest Accidents in His Life

Gazeta

Frank Selak a Croatian music teacher can be considered the luckiest man on earth. He can’t travel in a plane, bus, train because he survived many accidents including train derailment into icy waters, a bus crash, the door blowing off a plane he was on, two cars catching fire while he was driving and if that’s not enough, he drove off a mountain road and landed in a tree while he watched his car continue down and explode 300 feet below. He won a million dollars lottery.

5. A Man Nearly Cut in Two after Falling From a Train

The accident took place in June 2006 when Truman Duncan, a railroad switchman was working at his job in the rail yards of Cleburne, Texas. He slipped and fell onto the tracks while riding on the front of a train car that was moving toward a repair dock. He tried not to be run over by the train but got caught in the undercarriage, and was run over by steel wheels supporting 20,000 pounds of dead weight. The train dragged him 75 Feet and he got entangled in the wheels. His body was nearly cut in half. The accident took his right leg as well as his left leg, pelvis and kidney. He called 911, waited for 45 minutes and survived 23 surgeries. He is living a lively and cheerful life.

4. Juliane Koepcke Who Survived Lightning and Plane Crash

Balas

If asked what would you find more dangerous; being struck by lightning or being in a plane which crashed or being thrown out of a flying plane?  Juliane Koepcke a high school student survived all three of these in the crash of LANSA Flight 508 in the Peruvian rainforest when the plane was struck by lightning on December 24 1971. She was blown out of the plane still strapped to her seat. She was the only survivor among the 93 passengers. She landed 2 miles away with an eye injury, a broken collarbone and cuts and bruises. Her father was a biologist and he had once told her that what flows downstream and where there is water, there is life. She remembered this and starting following the flow of water.  She had to trek for 9 days with her injuries and no food till she found a small cabin where she cleaned her wounds and waited till help reached her. Later she became a zoologist. Her survival story became the subject of two films, the first being the 1974 Giuseppe Maria Scotese film Miracoli accadono ancora (Miracles Still Happen) and Wings of Hope by Werner Herzog.

3. Earthquake Survivor Remained Buried for 27 Days

Vosizneias

Khaleed Hussain, a 20 year old farm worker was recovered alive from the debris of his house after the October 8 earthquake in Pakistan. He was buried under his house pinned in painful position beneath a wooden beam and rocks. He was totally trapped and could only move his arms slightly. The perpetual digging motion of his hands even after his rescue shows the pain and the horror he had endured. Miraculously he was rescued alive on November the 10^th by a young man. His right leg was broken at several places.

2. Baby with Rare Tumor Born Twice

FoxNews

Keri McCartney was four months pregnant when the doctors found a dangerous tumor of the size of a grapefruit on baby’s body. This tumor was stopping the blood flow and weakening her heart. Doctors decided to make an attempt to save the child. Surgeons at Texas Children’s Fetal Center cut into McCartney’s abdomen and pulled half of the body of the baby out to remove the life-threatening mass. The procedure was done quickly and then the baby was put back in the womb. Miraculously the baby survived and there were no complications for the next 10 weeks after which the baby was welcomed into the world for the second time. She was named Macie Hope McCartney as she survived a fatal tumor which affects 1 in 35,000 babies.

1. 72 Days Survival after a Plane Crash

Mlive

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster, and in South America as Miracle in the Andes crashed in Andes on October 13, 1972. It was carrying 45 people including a rugby team and their friends and family. The painful struggle against survival continued for 72 days and only 16 managed to win the fight against death. They were rescued on December 23, 1972. Around 10 passengers died in the crash. Food supply was short and weather conditions were extreme. Many died due to cold. Another eight were killed by an avalanche that swept over their shelter in the wreckage.

The survivors had little food and no source of heat in the harsh conditions, at over 3,600 meters (11,800 ft). They were willing to struggle even after hearing the radio news reports that the search for them had been abandoned. The survivors had no choice but to eat the dead passengers who had been preserved in the snow. Two passengers Nando Parrado and Robert Canessa travelled for 12 days and found a Chilean huaso. He alerted the authorities about the existence of the the survivors. Later a book was written and a movie was filmed on account of the survivors.

10 Most Eccentric Millionaires

Here is the list of Most Eccentric Millionaires in the world.The millionaire who was accused of defecating on the sidewalk in front of cafes

For years they wondered who was behind the unique calling card .To unmask the shopping strip's midnight-to-dawn caller, a North Ryde restaurateur who had borne the brunt of the deposits took the matter into his own hands. Someone was leaving behind human faeces on his pavement.

The restaurateur installed a surveillance camera and the footage led police to charge 71-year-old millionaire property owner Salvatore ''Sam'' Cerreto with willful and obscene exposure and offensive behaviour. Mr Cerreto, from Marsfield, is alleged to have personally dropped off the package. He was allegedly captured on camera walking to the tenant's restaurant with a ream of toilet paper, pulling his pants down, squatting and defecating. Mr Cerreto's property portfolio includes a building that is home to 13 street-front businesses.

For four years food outlets complained to police of similar discoveries. The affected tenants - who were relieved at the arrest - include operators of restaurants, cafes, delis, a hairdressing salon and a pathology centre. Police said officers had received complaints from cafe owners and restaurateurs in the commercial centre about someone defecating intermittently on their doorsteps, or on the pavement outside their premises. The deposits included excrement wrapped in paper, which was left on door handles or in flower beds near outdoor seating.

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The millionaire who opened a Nobel Prize sperm bank to create a master race In 1980, millionaire optometrist Robert Clark Graham opened a sperm bank stocked with "donations" from the world's smartest men. The Repository for Germinal Choice, located in an underground bunker in San Diego, aimed to collect sperms from Nobel Laureates, which earned it the nickname "Nobel Prize Sperm Bank". But the scarcity of donors and the low viability of their sperm (because of age) forced Graham to develop a looser set of criteria. These criteria were numerous and exacting: for example, sperm recipients were required to be married, and male donors were required to have extremely high IQs, though the bank later softened this policy so it could recruit athletes for donors as well as scholars.

By 1983, Graham's sperm bank was reputed to have 19 repeat genius donors, including William Bradford Shockley (1956 Nobel Prize in Physics and proponent of eugenics) and two anonymous Nobel Prize winners in science.

When the Repository for Germinal Choice closed after Graham's death 1999, there were 229 babies none of which was fathered by Nobel Prize winners. So far, none of these kids had grown up to win the Nobel Prize either.

(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)

 
The first Second Life (virtual) millionaire Millionaires usually make their money in banking, playing the stock market or in big business. Ailin Graef has changed all that. The former Chinese language teacher has just joined the millionaire's club – but is the first person to do so thanks to profits from a virtual world. Ms Graef has built up a massive property empire in Second Life, an online 3D world where users live and socialise as they would in reality.

Her online equivalent (known as an avatar), Anshe Chung, buys large blocks of lands, improves them by adding housing and then sells them to other users for a handsome profit.

Since joining the game in 2004 she has amassed a fortune of almost 300 million Linden dollars (the game's currency). Uniquely, these dollars can be exchanged into real US dollars at online currency exchanges. With the rate at around L$275 to US$1, she has become a millionaire. Although she lives near Frankfurt in Germany, Ms Graef has set up an office in Wuhan, China, employing ten programmers to help 'develop' the online land she later sells to other users.

(Link | Via)

 

The millionaire who decided to give away his entire fortune because he was unhappy

Karl Rabeder grew up poor and thought that life would be wonderful if he had money. But when he got rich, Karl discovered that he was unhappy, so he decided to give away every penny of his £3 million fortune: "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he said. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."

On the block, or already sold, is his luxury villa with a lake in the Alps, his 42-acre estate in France, his six gliders, and the interior furnishings and accessories business that got him rich in the first place. Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck. His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.

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The millionaire dog who was a trust fund of over $300 millions Sure, there will always be people who have more money than you, but did you realize that some pets do, too? Meet Gunther IV, the German Shepherd, world's richest dog. This dog actually received his inheritance from his father, Gunther III, a German Shepherd who received an inheritance from Karlotta Liebenstein, a German countess. Gunther IV has bought a Miami villa from Madonna and won a rare white truffle in an auction. He's worth about $372 million right now, thanks to his growing trust fund.

(Link | Via)

 
The British millionaire who changed his mansion for mud after being adopted by tribe in Kenya Most people return from Kenya with photos of giraffes and lions, and tales of their time on safari. But one millionaire has come back with the title of elder of a Masai tribe. Graham Pendrill is the first white person to gain such an honour from the group after solving a potentially violent inter-tribal dispute while on a month-long trip to the East African country last year.

During the official ceremony, Mr Pendrill had to drink bull's urine and had a cow sacrificed in his honour. Since returning, he has worn his Masai clothes while going about his business in his home town of Almondsbury, near Bristol, UK. The 57-year-old bachelor, who was given the tribal name Siparo meaning 'brave one', often wanders down his local High Street wearing nothing but a robe and sandals. 'People can call me eccentric - it doesn't bother me,' he said. 'When I got home my ordinary clothes just felt odd. 'I've had some sideways looks and a difficult moment in a Bristol pub, but most people are polite,' he added. Mr Pendrill, an antiques dealer, has given his suits to Oxfam and plans to sell his £1.2million mansion so he can move to Kenya to live in a mud hut with the Masai later this year. 'I've developed a huge respect and affection for the people there. It's a real honour to be an elder,' he said.

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The millionaire who decided to buy his own town Fast cars and flash jewellery are the usual perks of the millionaire. But Scott Alexander has just splashed out on the ultimate status symbol – his own town. The 31-year-old lifestyle and property tycoon is turning a Bulgarian coastal town into a holiday hotspot for British tourists – and naming it after himself. 'The name is really hard to pronounce. I've decided to call it Alexander, which I suppose is quite cheeky.' Mr Alexander – who is single and lives in a penthouse apartment in Manchester – bought the town from a Bulgarian entrepreneur for £3 million. The identity of the place is being kept a secret until the deal is completed.

Mr Alexander's company, Ultimate Lifestyle Group Incorporated, has a staff of 60, offers personal training and arranges cosmetic surgery, property and cars for celebrities. Past clients include Tom Cruise, who Mr Alexander helped train for his role in Mission Impossible III. He was featured in Britain's TV Show ‘Biggest Spenders' and often quoted as being "the most vain man in Britain".

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The nurse who became a millionaire but decided not to quit her job A nurse who won £1 million live on TV said she would not give up her £25,000 job. The money will change my lifestyle but it won't change me. Coronary care nurse Karen Shand, 40, will carry on working at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, despite winning the jackpot on ITV1's The Vault. Ms Shand won the cash after ringing the show 'on the spur of the moment' and answering six questions correctly. It was the largest amount ever won on live TV at that time.

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The homeless billionaire Meet Nicholas Berggruen, a homeless billionaire. You read that right. Nicholas is worth billions but doesn't even own a home (he stays in hotels) because he's lost all interest in acquiring things. After making his billions, Mr. Berggruen, 46, lost interest in acquiring things: They didn't satisfy him, and in fact had become something of a burden. So he started paring down his material life, selling off his condo in New York, his mansion in Florida and his only car. He hatched plans to leave his fortune to charity and his art collection to a new museum in Berlin.

For him, wealth is about lasting impact, not stuff. Forbes magazine estimated Berggruen's net worth at $2.2 billion as of 2010.

(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)

The millionaire whose daughter works at McDonald's to learn the value of money

The Thai prime minister sent his daughter to work at McDonald's. The billionaire even turned up to buy burgers from his 17-year-old daughter Paethongtan, the youngest of his three children, on her first day as a part-time employee after taking her university entrance examinations.

Her first task was to learn how to operate the cash register, but she will also learn to flip burgers. 'In developed countries, children usually work while they study to gain experience and to appreciate the value of money and how to spend it,' Thaksin said.' Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra himself worked at KFC fastfood outlet while studying in the US.

Dej Bulsuk, president of McThai who operates the McDonald's fastfood outlets in Thailand, said: "The prime minister came to me to personally ask if I could give his daughter a part-time job during the school holidays, the Premier asked me specifically to treat his daughter just like any other employee" Thaksin even said to me: "And let her sweep the floor like the others."

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Top 10 Most Stupid Talents

here is the list of craziest and talented people in the world

The man who can get kicked in the crotch without injuring himself

Yong Hsueh, a Shaolin monk, appeared on the Chinese version of Britain's Got Talent to demonstrate his ability to get kicked in the crotch without suffering injury. He told the audience: “Steel crotch Kongfu is an ancient art, with roots stretching back to ancient China. “It's a practice to strengthen and protect the male genital organs so there is less chance they are injured or incapacitated in battle.”


Cross legged male members of the audience watched in shock as various members of the panel were invited to boot the monk – who simply bowed and smiled after each blow – between the legs. The monk said this skill could only be learned by a student that started in childhood – and it involves pushing the testicles into the body where they could not be hurt.

(Link | Via)

 The man who can stretch his skin for over 6 in

Garry Turner (UK), better known as the Stretchy Skin Man, is able to stretch the skin of his stomach to a distended length of 15.8 cm (6.25 in) due to a rare medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder of the connective tissues affecting the skin, ligaments and internal organs.

(Link)

 The man who can burp at 110 decibels

Everyone has their own particular talent. For Paul Hunn, it's the ability to belch at 110 decibels. He achieved the Guinness World record for the loudest burp on the set of The New Paul O'Grady Show, London, UK, on 24 September 2008.

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The contortionist who can squeeze through the head of a tennis racquet

Captain Frodo is a very disconcerting figure. It could be his semi-naked and very white body, bulging eyes, tattooed back, or perhaps the 2in black pegs skewered through his nipples that do it. Or maybe it is the small fact that he is currently squeezing his body through a 10in diameter tennis racquet - strings removed. Oh yes, and to speed things along a bit, he's now dislocating one joint after another, leaving spaces where shoulders should be and white limbs flopping and flapping in all the wrong places like a rag doll gone wrong. He's a contortionist in La Clique, a circus that also features juggling, sword-swallowing, strong men acts, acrobatics - indeed, pretty much everything but the bearded lady. (Link)

 The man who can pull a minivan using his eyelids

Next time your car needs a tow but it turns out you haven't got the right equipment, talk to this man. Stuntman Xie Zhongcai in Hefei, China's eastern Anhui Province, has another idea that fits the job. Just tie the car to your ear and head off. And if that seems like it might sting just a little, how about his next trick.

If the locals in Heping Square were left with their mouths open after his first stunt, they couldn't believe their eyes the second time – since the stuntman hooked up the minivan to his eye sockets!

(Link)

 The man who can throw up anything

Liang Yuxin trumps even the very worst hangovers to become world throwing-up record holder. The Chinese man, 25, from Xia Mei has stunned doctors with his ability to regurgitate anything from a live fish to a 50-inch chain. While the process of dispensing with ten or more mojitos in the morning may feel unnatural, Liang Yuxin's ability to throw up jewellery puts even the bitterest katzenjammer to shame. The champion chunderer said: ‘I found out I could do it when I was a boy and I accidentally swallowed a ball and found I could bring it back up at will. 'Now I seem to be able to swallow pretty much anything.'

Liang has taken to regularly swallowing fish and whatever else will fit down his oesophagus for kicks, and is now talking about going for the Guinness World Record in coin-swallowing. ‘The record is ten by a man in Britain and I can do 11,' he said. (Link | Via)

The man who can squirt milk with his eye

Ilker Yilmaz might just hold one of the world's most bizarre world records. The Turkish construction worker poured milk into his hand, loudly snorted it up his nose and squirted it 9.2 feet out of his left eye in what he hopes will be recognized as a new world record.

(Link)

The man who can fit an entire Coke can in his mouth

Meet the man who won a place in the Guinness World Records for having a mouth so rubbery he can fit an entire Coke can in it… sideways. Francisco Domingo Joaquim's mouth stretches to a massive 6.69-inch-long, which adjudicators from the famous record book say is the world's widest. The 20-year-old record breaker from Sambizanga, Angola, is said to have shot to fame after showing off his ‘talent' at local markets and football games. (Link | Via)

The woman who plays two recorders with her nose

Performer Claire Hawes left Britain's Got Talent judges speechless after showing off her extraordinary abilities with the recorder. Not content with playing just one instrument, she took to the stage with two - which she promptly proceeded to blow with her nose, instead of the more conventional method of using her mouth. Claire was just one of a clutch of performers who hoped to make it through to the finals of the hit TV show. (Link)

The professor who can draw a perfect freehand circle

Alexander Overwijk draws a perfect freehand circle 1m in diameter in less than a second.

(Link)

Top 10 World's Most Bizarre Competitions

It is thought that competition is often competitive and fierce. However, apart of competition, you also find the entertainment and joy in some races. This is true for marathon for pigs, bees, or brides. Let's have a look at following collection of most bizarre competitions over the world.


Unemployment Championship

The increasing ranks of the unemployed today aren't just sitting around the house feeling sorry for themselves. A group of the recently job-deprived gathered in New York City's East Village on Tuesday, March 31 2009, for an event described as the Unemployment Olympics. A laid-off computer programmer came up with the idea to lift spirits of the jobless. Some 20 contestants took part in events such as Pin The Blame On The Boss, Office Phone Skee-Ball, Office Phone Pinata, and the "You're Fired!" race to the cardboard Unemployment Office. Phone Skee-Ball, where an old office phone was tossed across the park for points, drew much fanfare and even had students from P.S. 34 cheering participants on. Phone Pinata, which involved hitting a pinata with an office phone, only took two strikes to burst. Unfortunately, the much anticipated Fax Toss, which reminded everyone of the infamous scene in Office Space, was canceled at the last moment due to Parks Department concerns over tossing large office equipment around.
(Link)

High Heel Marathon


High heel race is an unusual event, which is held in many cities, such as Sydney, Paris, Moscow and Amsterdam. But the citizens of Milan were lucky most of all – not every day the winner of such race gets a couple of delicious, lust luxury open-toe sandals from Manolo Blahnik.

Up to 300 girls took part at this competition who must overcome a distance of 80 m running on high heels. The heels should be a minimum 7 cm height and 1.5 cm in diameter. All these fashion sacrifices make only with the aim to get a pair of sandals from the shoe master Manolo Blanik. The winner in the Milan race was not single, but three which means that these three lucky women became the owner of the most elegant heels in the world.
(Link)

Wolf-whistle Contest


These days, any builder foolhardy enough to wolf-whistle at a passing woman is likely to get a slap in the face for his trouble - but not in County Fermanagh town. In 2009 Irvinestown played host to Ireland's first ever wolf-whistling championships, complete with scaffolding, hard hats, and plenty of women. The men of the town were more than eager to show their appreciation of the fairer sex, eagerly donning hard hats and lining up along the pavement to demonstrate their whistling skills.

They had a lot to whistle for. Part of the annual Lady of the Lake Festival, the parade through the streets was led by 2009 year's 'lady', beautician Claire Timlin. The politically incorrect competition was the work of festival organizer, and whistling devotee, Joe Mahon. Joe's years of experience stood him in good stead when asked to pick a winner out of the fine whistles in competition in Irvinestown.

Mahon chose a married man, local butcher Stephen Millar, as the champion wolf-whistler who, like Mahon, credits the technique for getting him a wife. (Link)

Hot Water Bottle Nose Bust Competition

In 2009 during a competition in Tbilisi, Georgia, 18-year-old Jemal Tkeshelashvili managed to burst three hot rubber bottles. One in 23 seconds, the second in 16 seconds, and his last bottle in only 13 seconds. He even blew one up while a man sat on top of it. He set a new record for the quickest burst at 13 seconds.

The previous record for blowing up a standard hot water bottle until it bursts was 51.98 seconds set by Brian Jackson from the United States in April 2006. (Link)

Gurning Competition
 

Gurning contests are a rural English tradition. By far the most notable that is held annually at the Egremont Crab Fair, which dates back to 1267 when King Henry III granted the fair a Royal Charter. The origins of the gurning competition itself are unclear, and may not be so old, although it was described as an ancient tradition by local newspaper the Cumberland Paquet in 1852. The competitions are held regularly in some villages, with contestants traditionally framing their faces through a horse collar — known as "gurnin' through a braffin'." The World Gurning Championship takes place annually at the same crab fair in Egremont, Cumbria. Those with the greatest gurn capabilities are often those with no teeth, as this provides greater room to move the jaw further up. In some cases, the elderly or otherwise toothless can be capable of spectacular gurns covering the entire nose.

Peter Jackman became England's best-known gurner, winning the world championship four times, beginning in 1998 with a face called the "Bela Lugosi." He had his teeth removed in 2000 to make his features easier to manoeuvre. Three years later, he died playing golf in Spain when a cliff face collapsed underneath him. 'Rubber Faced' Grant Owens then took the vacant crown by performing the unprecedented, and rarely seen, treble gurn. Owens states the reason for this is his extra large bottom lip which he used to be able to nestle polos in when he was a child. (Link | Via)
Toe Wrestling Competition Going way back to 1976, the World Toe Wrestling Competition started at a pub in Wetton, Derbyshire, UK. The locals of 'Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn' thought it would be a great idea to hold a toe wrestling competition, where the contestants lock their big toes together, and attempt to force their opponent's foot to the ground. The organizers have big intentions for the sport, and applied in 1997 for its inclusion in the Olympic Games. Unfortunately for crazy sports fans it was not accepted.

Toe-wrestling doesn't sound much like a blood sport, though past participants will testify to the contrary - they've got the sprained ankles and broken toes to prove it. (Link 1 | Link 2)

Palm Tree Trunk Climbing Competition


No, cycling on top of a pole is not a new extreme sport. You may not agree with that until you watch Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations, which include climbing up a greased palm tree trunk. Sound difficult? It is, so much in fact that it requires a team of four, determination and months of strategizing.

Indonesia's Independence Day falls on August 17 and includes many traditions like the hoisting of the flag, decorating houses and offices in red and white, fireworks and other celebrations. Games are a big part of the day; for example, shrimp cakes eating contests, bike decorating competitions (Lomba Sepeda Hias), Tumpeng making competitions (a rice-based dish) and Panjat Pinang, the palm tree trunk climbing, are some of the most popular.

In Panjat Pinang, four people make up a team that has to devise the best strategy to help one person up the greased pole. Some form human ladders, climbing on each other's shoulders, with the last one trying to find a foothold wherever he or she can. At the top of the pole are the prizes – anything from towels, clothes and practical items to mountain bikes and money vouchers. According to the no pain, no gain principle, the higher the pole and therefore the gift, the higher its value. Oh, and should a team make it unexpectedly fast close to the top, the team members, spectators and the pole might just get hosed down with water so that they have to start again. The task is so difficult that opposing teams are known to cooperate to make it. And still, the competition can take anywhere between one and two hours or longer.
(Link)

World Egg Throwing Championship

Egg Throwing has been a sport enjoyed by millions of people since early humans discovered the delight of watching a failure of another to catch a tossed egg. Nowadays egg throwing is a serious sport played all over the world. The World Egg Throwing Competition is held annually in Swaton, England since 2006. The contest features four disciplines besides the egg trebuchet, including the "throw and catch", in which teams of two players try to propel and safely gather an egg over the greatest distance. Teams of 11 players can enter the "egg-static relay" and attempt to move 12 eggs 100 metres by throwing them between themselves as they stand along the route. And "egg Russian roulette" – which echoes a dramatic sequence from the film The Deer Hunter – involves contenders wearing bandannas selecting eggs one at a time and smashing them against their foreheads. The loser is the first to pick the single raw egg among the six otherwise hardboiled ones on offer.
(Link)

Mud Soccer Competition

In 2008, thousands of men and women alike flocked to bog-fields in the spirit of sportsmanship of dirty play, barely able to move an inch in the knee to waist-deep mud at the 10th annual Mud Soccer World Championships for what was more like mud carnival revelry in pig pens than a fundamental world cup outside the tiny town of Hyrynsalmi, Finland. A natural swamp was converted into 22 playing fields each measuring about 197 x 115 feet (60 x 35 meters) — marked out with little more than yellow tape and plastic drainpipes. The game lasts for 2 periods of 25 minutes each on the swampy grounds, with 340 teams of 6 players — 5 field players and a goal keeper — for 880 matches, each wading, crawling, and trudging through the soaking mud fields.

With shoes and socks taped with duct tape, teams of men in long dresses and white hospital gowns, Superman outfits, skimpy shorts, suits and ties, and blonde and pink wigs were common-sight, as were men dragging women through the mosquito-infested bog while they managed to play a game and swill beer simultaneously. Some wore oversized sunglasses which are also useful against the mud splatter. Standard soccer regulations allegedly apply, but the intensely chaotic and largely uncontrolled games seemed to have few if any rules — there's no offside, no definite penalty box and unlimited substitutions are made on the fly.

Not drinking water from the swamp and insurance protection were rules organizers emphasized most. A team member of Athletico Hucknall, England's sole representatives left the arena aboard an ambulance, nursing a suspected broken leg. Winning the trophy in the men's, women's, mixed or hobby category was secondary — at least for most. (Link)

Baby Crawling Marathon

600 kids were expected for Cali, Colombia's first "Maraton de Gateadores," [aka Crawlers Marathon] in 2005, but according to the municipal health ministry 1,122 showed up. The human equivalent of a frog jumping contest, the races pitted kids' ages 8-18 months against each other in a 5-meter straightline crawl. Unsurprisingly, very few completed the race, despite the entertainingly shameless motivational tactics of their parents. The race was part of the city's "Cali en movimiento!" campaign, and was spurred by an alarming drop in productivity among Cali baby drug mules at customs checkpoints in the US. It is hoped that by promoting health and athleticism in infants, Colombian babies will be able to boost their average smuggling load from 0.5kg to 1kg/diaper by 2007. (Link)

Famous Celebrities and Famous Adoptions

Many of us have a fascination with the well-known in the world of adoption and foster care: actors, entertainers, athletes, politicians, and others. The list below includes names in the adoption community that may be more recognizable to Americans, but this isn't the end of it.Here is the list of most famous celebrity adoptions

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

The Hollywood superstars have six children, three of whom are adopted: Shiloh, Maddox and Pax. Are they planning on adding to their brood? The kids (see photos) get to see a lot of the world because their parents are often on set in far-flung locations – Jolie is now directing her first movie in an unlikely place.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman

When Cruise and Kidman were married – and it was a long marriage by Hollywood standards – they adopted Connor and Isabella. (See photos). But their parents split and formed new families, and the kids have a say in where they spend their time. Kidman’s comment.

Rosie O’Donnell

O’Donnell, who was known as the “Queen of Nice” for her daytime TV show, is passionate about adoption, and she has adopted three children: Parker, Chelsea and Blake. (See photos) O’Donnell, who announced that she is gay not long before she quit her show, also was married.

Sheryl Crow

Singer Sheryl Crow is adding another member to her family with the recent announcement of the adoption of her second son, Levi. The Grammy-winning star told fans that Levi James was born on April 30. Crow adopted her first son, Wyatt, in 2007 when he was just two weeks old

Elton John

Elton John fell in love with baby Lev, a child in an HIV-positive orphanage in Ukraine. Although his hopes for adoption were dashed, he's not giving up.

Father George Clements

Father George Clements received widespread attention when he became the first Roman Catholic priest to adopt a child. (How many did he ultimately adopt?) Father Clements went on to found an adoption program that currently operates in 32 states.

George Lucas

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas adopted his first child when he was married and adopted two more children as a single dad. Lucas is the founder of an educational foundation, which focuses on project-based learning as well as helping special needs children.

Joan Crawford

The eldest adopted daughter of Joan Crawford wrote a book about Crawford's parenting skills. Crawford adopted a total of four children. The agency handling her first adoption was later tied to a black market baby ring.

Madonna

Superstar Madonna adopted Malawian-born David Banda in 2006. In 2009, Madonna petitioned to adopt a second child from Malawi. Over the protests of the child's father, she was initially refused, but Madonna won on appeal and Mercy James joined the family in the spring of 2009.

Ben Stein

Through admitted selfishness on his part, Ben Stein never considered becoming a father. After adopting his only child, he wrote a book about fatherhood.

Lionel Richie

Three-year-old Nicole Richie moved in with Lionel Richie and his former wife when Nicole's biological father hit hard times. Richie officially adopted Nicole six years later.

Katherine Heigl

Katherine Heigl and her husband, Josh Kelley, adopted their first child, a baby with special needs from South Korea (photos). The former "Grey's Anatomy" star says she was inspired by her sister. Heigl says her own reaction to motherhood was stronger than anticipated.

Alex Kingston

Best known for her role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the hit show "ER," Alex Kingston experienced two failed adoptions. Does Kingston want to try the adoption route again?

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis and husband Christopher Guest adopted two children, son Tom and daughter Annie. Curtis, an accomplished actor and children's book author, wrote a book about adoption from a child's point of view.

Sandra Bullock

Oscar winner Sandra Bullock brought home Louis Bardo in January and kept the adoption a secret. Ten days after the Oscars, Bullock and husband Jesse James separated (when did they divorce?).