Top Ten April Fool's Day Hoaxes...

(As judged by notoriety, absurdity, and number of people duped)

#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest:

In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

#2: Sidd Finch:

In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.

#3: Instant Color TV:

In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

#4: The Taco Liberty Bell:

In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

#5: San Serriffe:

In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades

#6: Nixon for President:

In 1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little

#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi:

The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper:

In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers:

In its April 1995 issue Discover Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.

#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity:

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

The origin of April Fool's Day

The origin of April Fool's Day remains clouded in obscurity. Basically no one knows exactly where, when, or why the celebration began. What we do know is that references to 'All Fool's Day' (what April Fool's Day was first called) began to appear in Europe during the late Middle Ages. All Fool's Day was a folk celebration and elite participation in it was minimal (which is why it's so difficult to trace the exact origin of the day, because the people celebrating it back then weren't the kind of people who kept records of what they did). But what is clear is that the tradition of a day devoted to foolery has ancient roots. As we look back in time we find many ancient predecessors of April Fool's Day.

Throughout antiquity numerous festivals included celebrations of foolery and trickery. The Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival observed at the end of December, was the most important of these. It involved dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts, slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had transformed into a January 1 New Year's Day celebration, and many of its traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas.

In late March the Romans honored the resurrection of Attis, son of the Great Mother Cybele, with the Hilaria celebration. This involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises.

Further afield in India there was Holi, known as the festival of color, during which street celebrants threw tinted powders at each other, until everyone was covered in garish colors from head to toe. This holiday was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of March).

Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. And there were also popular Northern European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids.

All of these celebrations could have served as precedents for April Fool's Day.

During the middle ages, a number of celebrations developed which served as direct predecessors to April Fool's Day. The most important of these was the Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) which evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival.

There was also the medieval figure of the Fool, the symbolic patron saint of the day. Fools became prominent in late medieval Europe, practicing their craft in a variety of settings such as town squares and royal courts. Their distinctive dress remains well known today: multicolored robe, horned hat, and sceptre and bauble.

There have been quite a few attempts to provide mythological explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day.

For instance, it was once popular to attempt to christianize the celebration by locating its origin somewhere in Biblical traditions. In one such version, the day's origin is attributed to Noah's mistake of sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided (thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story tells that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory.

But there are rival mythological explanations linking the celebration to pagan roots. For instance, April Fool's Day was often traced back to Roman mythology, particularly the myth of Ceres and Proserpina. In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres (the Goddess of grain and the harvest) for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. The fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter (commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia) was believed by some to have been the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.

British folklore links April Fool's Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has supposedly commemmorated their trickery.

The most widespread theory about the origin of April Fool's Day involves the Gregorian calendar reform of the late sixteenth century.

The theory goes like this: In 1582 France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar established by the Council of Trent (1563). This switch meant, among other things, that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th (known in England as Lady Day) and April 1st, had various jokes played on them. For instance, pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were given the epithet Poisson d'Avril, or April Fish. Thus, April Fool's Day was born.

The calendar change hypothesis might provide a reason for why April 1st specifically became the date of the modern holiday. But it is clear that the idea of a springtime festival honoring misrule and mayhem had far more ancient roots. In addition, the process by which the observance of the day spread from France to protestant countries such as Germany, Scotland, and England is left unexplained by this theory. These nations only adopted the calendar change during the eighteenth century, at a time when the tradition of April Foolery had already been well established throughout Europe. Finally, it is not clear what evidence, besides conjecture, supports the theory. For which reason, while there's certainly a possibility that the calendar-change hypothesis contains a germ of truth, it should not be regarded as fact.

US Economy...Signs Of Trouble...

Best wishes on the occasion of the Festival of Colours (Holi)

Women get their faces painted to convey message of religious harmony on the occasion of Holi in Indore, India.

ESSENCE OF BHAGVAD GITA...

ESSENCE OF BHAGVAD GITA:

Whatever has happened, has happened for good.

Whatever is happening, is happening for good.

Whatever is going to happen, it will be for good.

What have you lost for which you cry?

What did you bring with you, which you have lost?

What did you produce, which has been destroyed?

You did not bring anything when you were born.

Whatever you have, you have received from Him.

Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.

You came empty handed and you will go the same way.

Whatever is yours today was somebody else's yesterday and will be somebody else's tomorrow.

SO WHY WORRY UNNECESSARILY?

Change is the law of the universe.

Priti and my 18th Wedding Anniversay photographs...taken on Sunday, March 16th, 2008...

Priti and my marriage has entered adulthood today (Sunday, March 16th). We are celebrating our 18th Wedding Anniversary today.

There has been a miraculous improvement in Priti's health between today and exactly eight weeks ago when (on Sunday, January 20th) she was admitted to Apollo Hospital ICU in a very critical condition and put on life support. She was on life support for the next four days.

We are celebrating our marriage anniversary today because of Priti's miraculous recovery caused by the prayers, wishes and support of hundreds of friends, relatives and office colleagues - and due to the dedicated efforts of our team of doctors and the wonders of modern medical science. After five weeks in hospital and three weeks on dialysis thereafter, she is completely cured of septecemia and recovering her strength gradually. Hopefully, her kidneys will also recover in due course.

I am thankful for all the support my family has received that has enabled us to see this day...and enabled our family to be together to take the attached photographs.

Best wishes on International Women's Day...

Large number of women work with low salaries: ILO

A large number of women work with low salaries and without any social protection, says a new report of International Labour Organisation.

"More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work," the ILO report issued for International Womens Day says.

"Global employment trends for women - March 2008", says that the number of employed women grew by almost 200 million over the last decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007 compared to 1.8 billion men. However, the number of unemployed women also grew from 70.2 to 81.6 million over the same period.

"Women continue to enter the world's workforce in great numbers. This progress must not obscure the glaring inequities that still exist in workplaces throughout the world," said ILO Director General Juan Somavia.

"The workplace and the world of work are at the centre of global solutions to address gender equality and the advancement of women in society. By promoting decent work for women, we are empowering societies and advancing the cause of economic and social development for all," said Somavia.

The report also shows improvement in the status of women in labour markets throughout the world but they have not substantially narrowed gender gap in the workplace.

The world's top 10 billionaires and their billions...

My wife has returned home this evening...

After 36 days in hospital (out of which 13 days were in ICU - the first 4 days of which were on life-support systems), Priti has returned home this evening (at 8 p.m.).

Priti is completely cured of septicemia and all her major organs, excepting for her kidneys, are functioning normally. By God's grace, her kidneys will also recover - until then she will be on twice a week dialysis.

Five weeks ago, this time, we had no assurance from the doctors whether Priti would leave the ICU alive. The marvels of modern medical science, coupled with prayers and good wishes from innumerable friends, relatives, office colleagues, SOS-India children and mothers and countless well wishers have brought Priti back to her family. My thanks to all of you.

My thanks also to the relatives and friends who have donated the innumerable pints of blood that were required during the early days of the crisis. Thanks also to all those who extended moral and physical help (including night stay duty) - and to the relatives and my Campus Law Centre friends for their direct and indirect financial support.

God bless you all!

Priti's Septicemia is almost cured...she has moved from bed to wheelchair...

Happiness...Priti's TLC count, this morning, has come down below the critical 11,000 mark - it is now 10,700. The blood poisoning seems to have been cured, though we will observe the count for a couple of days more for stability.

Priti is clear that her kidneys have started functioning a bit. The doctors have to confirm. A biopsy is planned.

Yesterday, after three and a half weeks of being in a horizontal position, Priti moved from bed to wheelchair.

Priti is making slow but steady progress...

Priti is making slow but steady progress. Her TLC count had come down to 14,800 three days ago - but then shot up to 16,200 the next day (after dialysis), giving us a bit of a scare. However, it came down to 13,300 the day after, and, this morning, after a very early morning dialysis, has come down further to 12,700. We are within reach of normalcy - which will be indicated by a TLC count of 11,000.

Doctors have discovered a thyroid problem - this could have been the reason for her sluggishness and lethargy and lack of appetite. It is being treated...in fact, this morning, Priti is extremely chirpy, God bless her! She is also eating well.

The prayers and wishes of all our friends, relatives and well wishers are working very well...I request you all to keep up the good work. I thank the children and mothers of SOS Children's Villages around the country and my co-workers for their regular prayers for my wife recovery.

Priti's kidneys are showing some movement towards recovery (in terms of urea and cretinine indicators). It is early days yet - but I am convinced that they will recover.

Priti's stay in hospital has been extended. She will not come home this week but, maybe, early next week. The antibiotic treatment will continue until the TLC count stabilises below 11,000. The alternate day dialysis will continue until the kidneys show stronger recovery.

Priti's BP, platelet count and HB count are stable and normal.

Thank you so much for your support. And those who gave blood - thanks again.

Priti's septicemia is almost cured...she is talking and eating normally...

Priti's TLC count is now down to 14,300 - just 3,300 points away from absolute normalcy. At this rate, she should be cured and out of the hospital by Tuesday/Wednesday. Her HB count is a normal 9.3. Her platelet count is 1,20,000...which is also high enough and good.

Priti's urea and cretinine counts are high - her kidneys are still not doing the job they are supposed to do. Therefore, alternate day dialysis continues - the next one being today.

We are hoping and praying that her kidneys resume functioning in a week or two.

Update on my wife's condition...

Priti is making steady progress, thanks to the wishes and prayers of innumerable friends and well wishers. Her TLC is down to 17,100 - down from 80,000 over two weeks ago. The requirement is 11,000 - this will show that the septicemia (blood poisoning) is out of her system. Hopefully, she will reach this figure in 3/4 days. Her BP is steady at 130. Her platelet count is maintained at an excellent 1,50,000. Her HB count is 9.8 - better than her normal count of just 7.4 earlier. She has stopped vomiting out bile - her liver seems to have recovered and she has started eating reasonably from yesterday.

Priti was slightly depressed for a couple of days - she was not talking, eating or opening her eyes. This has changed a bit yesterday - she is responding to family and friends. All that is now needed is for her kidneys to resume functioning. Until then she is on alternate day dialysis - to remove toxins from her system.

If the TLC count comes down to 11,000 in 3/4 days, she could be discharged from hospital and return home by middle/end of next week.

Family, friends and well wishers (including the vast SOS family worldwide - the organisation I work for) have rallied behind my daughters and me in our hour of crisis with prayers, blood donations and even financial support. I would like to place on record my thanks to my law college friends, some of who are now leading judges and lawyers of India, who organised a collection drive to help meet a part of Priti's hospitalisation costs. May God bless all my family members and friends for caring so much.

Priti is out of ICU...

Priti being transferred to her room...

Priti has been moved out of ICU after a 13 day stay and is now comfortably settled in her own private room in Apollo Hospital.

The prayers and wishes of friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers (not to mention the large numbers of blood donations) have ensured that she is out of danger - she is no longer critical.

Priti's TLC is down to 24,000 (it was 80,000+ last week). This means that the septicemia is slowly but surely receding.

Her platelet count has gone up from under 20,000 to 1,77,000 (without the support of any plasma or platelet transfusion in the last 3 days). Her blood pressure is finally stable (it has gone up to 120+ from under 70).

Priti's HB is 8.9 - it was only 7.4 yesterday, but a blood transfusion in the evening has pushed it up.

We are now waiting for her kidneys to start functioning again. A MR scan two days ago indicated that the collapse has been "acute" - so the recovery may take a little longer. She needs dialysis every alternate day. Please pray for her complete recovery.

I thank all friends, relatives, office colleagues, neighbours, acquaintances and well wishers for their support and prayers.

Priti is critical...

On Saturday, January 19th, Priti - my beloved wife of 18 years - underwent a minor gynecological operation in a reputed hospital near our home. The operation was a success. Priti was scheduled to return home the next morning.

While Priti rested in her room with my mother-in-law sitting by her bedside, my two daughters and I went to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory lunch.

Our happiness was terribly premature. Destiny has not been kind to us. On Saturday evening, hours after the operation, Priti had to be rushed to the ICU in a critical state. Apparantly, a blood transfusion post-surgery caused a severe reaction in Priti's body - some of her organs (kidneys and lungs) had shut down and her blood had got badly infected - she had become a victim of blood poisoning (septicemia).

On Sunday morning, she was shifted to one of the best hospitals in Delhi (Apollo) - and she has been in the ICU there ever since, on life-support. She remains extremely critical. Please please pray for her.

She may have a surgery this morning.

Friends, relatives and office colleagues have overwhelmed us with their support. We have received innumerable pints of blood - more has been committed.

Priti's life hangs on a thread - my daughters Piya and Panvi and I need your prayers.

The origin of the guitar...

It is very difficult to trace a line back to the exact birth of the instrument we know as the guitar today, as there is a lot of myth and uncertainty surrounding its origins.

This is mainly due to the fact there have been a number of similar instruments throughout the ages. Many historians claim the guitar originated at various points in time. Some believe the guitar in its earliest form dates back some 4000 years, however no-one really knows for sure. This is due to a number of artworks that depict guitar-like instruments being used at various times throughout history. Many ancient Egyptian paintings portray musical instruments that could be mistaken for the guitar.

A popular theory is that the guitar could have been invented by the classical-era Greeks. This is due to confusion, however, mainly with the similarity of its name with the Kithara. The Kithara was in fact a type of harp or lyra, which bares little resemblance with the guitar other than in name.

The guitar as we know today appears to be an ancestor of the lute. The lute had four strings which would be plucked, not strummed as with a guitar. The body was oval in shape and had a rounded back. The downside of this construction was that the lute was not a very loud instrument, meaning it could not be played along side other instruments. Although missing many of the elements of today’s guitar, it is an important step in the guitars evolution.

The first written mention of the guitar as a distinct instrument is from the 14th century. In this very early form the instrument had three double courses (or pairs) of strings plus a single string (tuned the highest in pitch), similar in comparison to the lute, as mentioned earlier.

The next step was in the vihuela, which originated in Spain sometime in the 15th century. The vihuela had a slightly ‘pinched’ waist – less pronounced than today’s guitar and a smaller body then the lute. It also had added treble strings, again arranged in pairs and was made to be strummed rather than plucked as the lute was.

It wasn’t until the 16th century that the two instruments were ‘combined’, in a manner of speaking, when an instrument was made with a body like that of the vihuela but closer in size to the lute.

The guitar became popular throughout Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries and by the late 17th century a fifth course of strings had been added below the other four.

By the mid-18th century the guitar began to take its modern form. The double courses were changed to single strings, and a sixth string was added above the existing five. It is very unclear whether this took place in France or in Italy, but the resulting instrument was very similar to that of which we know today.

World's weirdest sports...

Source:



On a safari in Nepal, Phil Noble discovered the sport of elephant polo.

Elephant polo is among the offbeat sports that Phil Noble has photographed.

“Incredible, absolutely incredible,” said Noble, who visited Nepal in 1999 to take photographs for a travel feature for the Press Association, the British wire service.

“There were seven elephant polo teams there from all over the world, and an umpire riding a massive bull elephant who rode around ensuring fair play,” said Noble, 32, who joined Reuters in 2006. “There were two other guys running around the field removing any elephant dung dropped on either goal line which could have prevented a goal from being scored.”

Through his camera lens, Noble has seen some of the wackiest sports on the planet.

In August 2006, he was in Wales to shoot the bog-snorkeling world championship, which featured 100 contestants — some wearing pajamas — with snorkels and flippers in a muddy trench about 150 feet long and 4 feet deep. Rules governing the sport forbid using conventional strokes.

“People of all ages, of all sizes, jumped into this smelly trench and tried to get from one end to the other as fast as they could,” Noble said. “Spectators were cheering wildly when a woman who weighed about 400 pounds jumped into the mud, and they cheered one man who jumped in wearing a fairy-godmother costume, and another who wore a Superman cape.”

One of Noble’s photographs of bog snorkeling is included in a recently published book, “Reuters Sports in the 21st Century” (Thames & Hudson).

“Like Phil, many of our photographers have a passion to cover the quirkier side of sports,” said Jassim Ahmad, a photo editor at Reuters who managed production of the book. “When we were putting this book together, it was unbelievable to learn of all the weird, wonderful sports going on in the world.”

Noble, who lives with his wife, Paula, and their two children in Manchester, England, has zoomed in on his share of oddball sports in his home country. He once covered a cheese-rolling championship in Summerbee, where participants clench large wheels of cheese between their legs before releasing them down a hill and giving chase.

“The cheese wheel is about the size of a soccer ball, and the first guy who catches his cheese wins,” Noble said. “But the hill is so steep, it’s actually quite dangerous. In fact, an ambulance crew waits at the bottom of the hill, just in case.”

Noble has also covered sheep racing in Wales and toe wrestling in England.

“Obviously, you cannot ride sheep,” Noble said. “So people knit jockeys out of wool and fasten the knitted jockeys to the sheep and race them on a course made out of bales of hay. It’s sort of like a rodeo, but on a smaller scale.”

Noble has his sights set on covering a number of other little-known championship events in England and beyond, including cricket matches on ice, lawn mower racing and desert golf.

“When I golf, I have a habit of finding bunkers,” Noble said, laughing. “As much time as I spend hitting out of sand traps, I would give Tiger Woods a run for his money in desert golf.”

Although he has photographed “everyone in England from Prince Charles to David Beckham,” Noble says he gets great satisfaction in “covering people you can actually relate to.”

“When it comes to covering mainstream politics or sports, you can’t get anywhere near most celebrities for a little conversation or to get to know them a bit, because they are always off limits,” he said. “One of the best parts of my job is that I do get to meet regular people, like the men and women who compete in these lesser-known sports.

“Take the winners of the bog-snorkeling and cheese-rolling events. Except for the fact that one of them dived into a smelly, muddy swamp and the other chased a cheese wheel down a steep hill in order to become world champions, they are really no different than you and me.”

Pak channel airs photos of Benazir Bhutto's assassins...

A Pakistani TV news channel has aired photographs of two men it said were involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto after an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday, December 27th.

One of the two grainy photos -- which "Dawn News" channel said were clicked by an amateur photographer -- showed a youth wearing sunglasses aiming a pistol at Bhutto's back while she waved through the sun-roof of her bulletproof vehicle to her supporters.

The other picture, apparently taken before the shooting, showed the same youth standing next to another man who had a white cloth wrapped around his face. "Dawn News" described the second man as the "suspected suicide bomber".

The position of the youth with the pistol in the photo coincided with the position of the shooter seen in video footage of the attack on Bhutto released by the interior ministry yesterday. In that footage, the face of the shooter is obscured but his hand can be seen holding a pistol that is used to fire three to four shots towards Bhutto.

New Year celebration rehearsal...

People wearing animal masks march during a New Year celebration rehearsal in Taipei, Taiwan. Hundreds of people are expected to pour into the square near Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper, in a gala on 31st December.

Go ahead, egg my Hummer...

A Hummer owner in Russia's second city St. Petersburg has given anti-globalists the green light to pelt his oversized vehicle with rotten eggs, Russian news agencies reported last week.

"Peter Antiglobalist" activists told news agency RIA they found a driver willing to let them express their dissatisfaction with consumerism by throwing things at his luxury sport utility vehicle, a spokesman said.

A Moscow car dealer puts the base price of a Hummer H3 at $49,500.

"Luxury is a false value, clouding modern society's vision. Advertising posters, TV shows and slick marketing constantly tells us that buying things is the most important value in our society," RIA quoted the spokesman as saying.

The anti-globalists said throwing eggs and tomatoes at the Hummer will help draw attention to their cause.

The vehicle's owner said he will then sell it and donate the proceeds to an orphanage.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year...

You are driving - and you get a heart attack...

Clever Definitions...

Definitions not in the dictionary...

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

BEAUTY PARLOR: A place where women curl up and dye.

CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.

CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.

COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.

INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.

RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.

SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.

SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.

TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.

WRINKLES: Something other people have. I have character lines.

'Don't tip too much'

Spaniards still have not fully understood the value of a euro and often tip too much, adding to the sense that life is more expensive, Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said on December 15th.

"I see people having a couple of coffees and calmly leaving a euro as a tip. That's 50 percent of the value of the product," Solbes said at a political rally to discuss economic issues ahead of next year's general elections.

"People haven't taken on board the value of a euro. 20 cents is 32 pesetas, a euro is 160," he said.

Before the euro hit the streets in 2002, leaving a 25 peseta tip was the norm. One euro was worth 166.386 pesetas.

Spain's inflation has outstripped other eurozone countries in the last years, partly fuelled by above-average growth.

In November, higher oil and food prices shot inflation up to a 22-month high of 4.1 percent year-on-year.

Overweight? Better buy two seats!

Most Australians believe obese airline passengers should pay for two seats so they don't take up space from the people sitting next to them, according to a survey released on December 11th.

Sixty-three per cent of the 2,810 respondents wanted "excessively overweight" people to be charged for an extra seat, according to the survey for travel company, totaltravel.com.

"This is a sensitive issue for all involved and forcing obese people to pay for two tickets raises a lot of ethical and legal dilemmas," said totaltravel.com global marketing manager Paul Fisher.

"The issue resonated strongly with travellers, especially because seat space was at a premium since the launch of low-cost carriers," he said.

"Airlines should be working out a solution to the problem, whether it is discounted second seats or specially-designed chairs for larger people," according to Fisher.

Some good ones...

Prison goes for sale

For sale in former city of popes: one mediaeval insane asylum and prison. Exceptional location next to papal palace. River views. Cell space for 700. Hoteliers only need apply.

As part of its programme to sell off unused state property, France's finance ministry has put on sale the Sainte-Anne prison in the centre of the southern town of Avignon, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Classified as a historic monument, the prison began life as an asylum in the 13th century - around the same time that Avignon became the home of popes exiled from Rome. Up till 2003, it was a prison and regarded as one of France's least salubrious.

"When the prison was closed the municipality wanted to buy it and convert it into a hotel. Sadly the price was too high," said Avignon's mayor Marie-Josee Roig.

Instead, the rectangular three-story building around a central courtyard is open for bids. The only condition is that all or part must be turned into a top-class hotel with at least 110 rooms.

The ministry expects to obtain at least four million euros. Several other disused prisons are to be sold off in the coming years.

Expensive dog collar...

A dog named Ritchie models a dog collar worth 500,000 Pounds Sterling at Harrods Department Store, London. (AFP Photo)

The oldest hereditary monarchy in the world

The Japanese Imperial family is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. The family's lineage dates back to the sixth century BC, though the title of Tenno (emperor) or Sumera-Mikoto (heavenly sovereign) was assumed by rulers in the sixth or seventh century and has been used since. The family crest (above) is the kiku, or chrysanthemum.

The role of the Emperor (and occasionally the Empress - there have been 8 to date) has varied in importance. Considered a divine being until the end of World War II, the postwar Constitution made him the "Symbol of the state". He plays a largely ceremonial part in the life of the nation.

Origins and early history...

According to the historical chronicles of ancient Japan, the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters, AD712) and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan, AD720), the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami presented the sanshu no jingi or Imperial Regalia to her grandson, Ninigi no Mikoto. He in turn passed them on to his descendants, the emperors, the first of whom was Emperor Jimmu. The regalia, a mirror, a sword and a curved jewel are symbols of the legitimacy and authority of the emperor. These creation myths also form the foundations of the indigenous Shinto faith.

The emperor was thought to possess magical powers and to converse with the gods. It was therefore considered beneath him to become involved in the day-to-day running of the country. This was left to ministers and advisors. An exception was the period between the 7th and 8th centuries during which several emperors tried to bring the regional clans under central Imperial control. The first emperor to establish such direct imperial rule, modelled after the Chinese Tang dynasty, was Emperor Tenji who ruled between 661 and 672. Later during the Nara Period (710~794) Prince Shotoku, son of the Empress Suiko, created Japan's first constitution and established Buddhism as the country's dominant religion.

At the beginning of the Heian Period (794~1185), Emperor Kammu established a new capital in Kyoto, a city designed based on the Chinese capital. A combination of efforts to free the emperor from the web of entrenched bureaucracy and the court's increasing preoccupation with the pursuit of the arts and literature led to a situation where the real power was held by those occupying the posts of regent, for emperors not yet of age, and chief advisor. These posts were dominated by the Fujiwara and later the Taira families. While making no claim to the emperor's title or ritual role, the clans basically ruled in his name for several centuries.

Except for a period during the 14th century when the Emperor Godaigo briefly restored imperial rule, for almost the next 700 years, Japan was ruled by a succession of Shoguns, or military leaders. It wasn't until Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun of the recently reunited Japan at the beginning of the Edo Period (1600~1868) that the imperial institution regained some of its former glory, if not its power. While the Tokugawa's ruled from Edo (now Tokyo), the imperial court was in Kyoto and performed duties that, while important to the shogunate, were mostly religious rituals.

Early modern period...

During the Edo Period, a time of great cultural advancement but also of almost total isolation, a school of intellectuals known as kinno-ha, or imperial loyalists, developed their concept of Japanese identity with the emperor at its symbolic center. Faced with foreign pressure to 'open up' the country to foreign trade and diplomacy following the arrival of US Commodore Matthew C. Perry's 'Black Ships' in 1853, this concept was adopted as a rallying cry to defenders from the foreign threat. By 1868, they had succeeded in toppling the Tokugawa shogunate and establishing a new national government under direct imperial rule - the Meiji Restoration (analogies to this period of revolutionary change are often made by today's radical politicians).

The Meiji leaders spent the next twenty years experimenting with the imperial system before creating the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1889. The emperor was 'sacred and inviolable' and sovereignty rested with him as the Head of the Empire. He commanded the armed forces, declared war and concluded treaties. All laws required the his sanction and enforcement. And yet he had no real political power; his main role was to ratify and give the imperial stamp of approval to decisions made by his ministers.

Post World War II...

Following Japan's defeat in World War II, the occupation forces carried out radical reforms of the country's government and imperial systems. While there were calls for the emperor to stand trial at the 1946 Tokyo Tribunal and for the imperial system to be completely abolished, a more moderate approach was taken. The emperor had no political powers and under Article 1 of the new 'Showa' constitution he became 'the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power'. His role was purely symbolic and his functions subject to cabinet approval. The emperor himself declared in a New Year's Day radio broadcast that he was 'not divine'.

During the postwar period, efforts were made to bring the imperial family closer to the people, no longer his 'subjects' but citizens. Certainly there is great affection among Japanese people for their 'royals' as could be seen at the funeral of Emperor Hirohito in 1989 or the marriage of Crown Prince Naruhito to Princess Masako in 1993. The eagerly anticipated birth of a male heir to the Crown Prince was even thought of in terms of an event that could spark Japan's economic revival. The fact that his and Masako's first child was a girl (Aiko) and Masako was reaching an age where another child was increasingly unlikely, there were renewed moves to revise the Imperial House Law to allow female members of the family to ascend to the throne. This was proposed on the grounds of sexual equality and the fact that there have been 8 women on the throne in the past. The birth of a son to Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko in September 2006 may have put this issue on the shelf for another generation.

Talented bartenders...

Observe dogs for management lessons...

Homework for management students: Go home and observe your dog. If you don’t have one, get one immediately. Instead of spending hours pouring over case studies you would do better to just look at dogs and learn from them.

Surprised? Well, that’s the advice from leadership gurus Sherri McArdle and Jim Ramerman.

Dogs are cute, they drool and bark, and sometimes just loll around. But despite all these characteristics, our four-legged friends can teach us how to find happiness in any situation, including at the workplace.

After all, think about it: You never see dogs frowning, or stressed out, or most important, sitting in mindlessly long meetings. That’s why leaders can learn some new tricks from their pets, leadership gurus Sherri McArdle and Jim Ramerman were quoted as saying by Gannett News Service. “Finding happiness is a natural talent for dogs, but it’s not so easy for the rest of us,”

McArdle said. “For people, joyful things rarely happen effortlessly.”

McArdle and Ramerman wrote Why Dogs Wag Their Tails: Lessons Leaders Can Learn About Work, Joy, and Life. Both dog owners themselves, they know what they are talking about.

McArdle said, “I have learned a lot from my dog that applies to my professional life. For example, I learn better work-life balance from my pooch. He teaches me time management by whining at me when I work at home and he has to sit there and watch.”

Here are some dog-mas the duo feel people can implement in their working relationships:

Dogs are pack animals. “In order to manage dogs well you must pay close attention and provide them with the leadership they need,” she said. “Dogs need a leader to help them understand their role in the pack and to behave appropriately.” The same is true about organisations and performance, she said. People in companies need and want great leadership, sometimes without the tight leash.

Training is essential. The most effective leadership training comes from “on the job” growth experiences, being coached and mentored and getting feedback from peers, McArdle said. “Managing a dog is also an everyday growth experience, if we open ourselves up to the lessons we can learn,” she said.

Dogs give immediate feedback. Think about it. You know when dogs are happy with you - their tails go wild. And you know when they aren’t - their tails go between their legs.

“That’s the best way to learn - if only we all received such immediate feedback in the workplace, imagine the growth we could experience,” said McArdle.

Coin collection sells for $30 million

An anonymous buyer paid more than $30 million, on November 16th, for a collection of rare U.S. prototype coins, some from the 1700s, that never went into circulation, according to the dealer that brokered the deal.

The collection consists of about 1,000 coins that collectors refer to as pattern coins — trial designs that never went into production because the U.S. Mint chose other designs.

"This collection is an incredible collection. ... These were some of the first coins ever, ever struck by the United States government," said Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, New Jersey, which brokered the deal.

The seller wanted to remain anonymous, and the buyer, concerned about security, agreed to be identified only as "Mr. Simpson, a Western states collector," Sperber said.

"Both the buyer and the seller are very competitive people. And they're very successful in their careers, and they both love the romance and collectability of coins," Sperber said.

The coins span the period from 1792 to 1942. Highlights include test designs for the first pennies made in 1792 and six coins from 1872 that are often referred to as "Amazonian" patterns because the female figure portraying liberty is much stronger and regal looking than earlier versions.

It took the seller about 10 years to assemble the collection, Sperber said.

Gathering such a large collection of pattern coins is difficult because so few were created in the first place. And they were usually supposed to stay in the possession of the Mint — after all, these were the rejects.

"To accumulate as many patterns as there are in this collection, that's incredible," said Douglas A. Mudd, Curator of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The coins could have made their way into private hands as gifts, or as trades with collectors for other coins that the Mint wanted to acquire, Sperber said.

Independent, third-party experts have verified the collection, Sperber said.

Many of the coins bear depictions of a woman representing liberty and not the profile of a former president, as displayed on coins currently circulating.

Until 1909, when Abraham Lincoln's face was placed on the penny, presidents weren't allowed on coins. At the time the first coins were minted in 1792, putting the nation's leader on a coin seemed too similar to the practice of kings being displayed on European coins. That wasn't considered the best example for a country less than a decade removed from the Revolutionary War.

"To put an individual on coinage was considered very unrepublican because the people have the power in a republic," Mudd said.

Sperber would not say how much her company earned for brokering the deal but said she hopes the magnitude of the sale will get more people interested in collecting coins.

"They're historical. They're beautiful works of art," Sperber said. "They're just plain neat."

'I'll be back" is the most used film line...

"I'll be back" is the line from a film most commonly used in everyday conversation, according to a recent British survey.

The words from the 1984 blockbuster The Terminator, uttered by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role, topped the poll.

"Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn," Rhett Butler's closing line in the 1939 epic Gone With The Wind, came second in the survey of 2,000 people conducted by the myfilms.com website, the UK Film Council's cinema and film finder.

"Beam me up, Scotty" from Star Trek is third, even though it was never actually said in any episode of the television series or the spin-off films.

All the top 10 most commonly used lines were spoken by men. Elsewhere in the survey, men said they would most like to have starred in the James Bond films and the Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings sagas.

Women opted for Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman and Gone With The Wind.

Top 10 must used film lines are "I'll be back" (The Terminator), "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" (Gone With The Wind), "Beam me up, Scotty" (Star Trek), "May the force be with you" (Star Wars), "Life is like a box of chocolates" (Forrest Gump), "You talking to me?" (Taxi Driver), "Show me the money" (Jerry Maguire), "Do you feel lucky, punk?" (Dirty Harry), "Here's looking at you, kid" (Casablanca) and "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" (Dirty Dancing).

Happy Children's Day!

In India, November 14th, the birthday of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, is celebrated as "Children's Day"...

Teachers dressed as cartoon characters entertain kids on the occasion of Children's Day at a school in Bangalore, India.