Students Stage Most Romantic Break-up Ceremony Ever

Break-ups are almost never pretty, but two Chinese students have managed to melt the hearts of millions around the world, with their romantic break-up ceremony.

Xu Minyu and Xiao Ying, two students from Wuhan’s University of Science and Technology, had formed a couple for the last four years, and even though everything was great between them, they decided to break up upon graduating college. It wasn’t an easy decision for either of them, but they both agreed their careers were more important at this point in their lives, and a long distance relationship just wasn’t going to work. Xu Minyu will join the civil service in Hangzhou, while his girlfriend, Ying, has already signed a contract with a Beijing-based company. This puts 1,200 km between them and makes a normal relationship impossible.

But, unlike most couple who usually just decide to simply put an end to their relationship, or worse, have a terrible break-up fight, the two students decided to commemorate their love with a memorable with a memorable ceremony. It all went down last Thursday night, when, surrounded by burning candles and a crowd of fellow students, Minyu went up to his beloved girlfriend, carrying a bouquet of 99 roses, got down on one knee and asked for a break-up. Just like during a wedding proposal, the crowd shouted “Say yes, say yes”, and after a two-minute silence, Xiao Ying accepted the flowers and the proposal.

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Man Makes a Living Scraping the Sidewalk for Gold and Diamonds

Believe it or not, the streets of New York really are paved with gold, but you have to get down and dirty to get your hands on it. For urban prospector Raffi Stephanian this isn’t an issue, just a great way to pay the bills.

Using only a Styrofoam cup, a butter knife and tweezers, 43-year-old Raffi scours the streets of New York’s Diamond District searching for gold, diamonds and other precious jewels. You’ve probably walked on 47th Street countless times and didn’t realize the riches that were right there in front of you, but don’t beat yourself up about it, Raffi was probably the only one who ever thought there was something valuable on the sidewalk. And that only because he worked as a stone setter, years ago, when he found gold scraps on the floor of a diamond exchange. He realized if he could find gold inside, then people must have carried it outside, as well.

The gold and precious stones industry is a hectic one, and you can see people running from one shop to the other, from a diamond supplier to a diamond dealer, and so on, and in the process, they drop tiny valuables without even realizing it. Most of the fragments found by Raffi Stephanian were carried into the streets by diamond merchants who accidentally picked them up on their clothes or on the soles of their shoes. He also finds platinum chips, loops from broken necklaces, watches or bracelets, all of which were dropped by mistake.

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Slavisa Pajkic – A Real Life Human Battery

Slavisa Pajkic, from Serbia’s Pozarevac county, is known as “Battery Man’ for his amazing ability to withstand high voltage without getting hurt.

Biba, as his friends know him, says electricity has no friends, except for him. He apparently discovered his amazing capabilities when he was 17, and he’s been in an incredible relationship with electricity, ever since. Voltages of over 50 volts can cause dangerous levels of electricity to flow through the human body, and that’s precisely why your mother once told you to never stick your fingers in the power outlet, but Slavisa can withstand a lot more. He actually set his first Guinness record in 1983, when he took a hit of 20,000 volts like a champ. His second record dates back to 2003, when he was able to heat up a cup of water to 97 degrees Celsius, in 1 minute and 37 seconds.

Slavisa claims he can be an insulator, a conductor, an accumulator or a heater, depending on the case, and so far scientists haven’t been able to figure out exactly how he’s doing all of these things. He can light up a light bulb, cook a sausage and even set alcohol-soaked things ablaze with his body, by storing or acting as a conductor for electricity. Some reports say that because of a genetic defect, Slavisa Pajkic has no sweat and salivary glands, and scientists suspect current isn’t really passing through his body, but passes on the outside of his skin, which acts as a natural insulation.

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Ivan Stoiljkovic – Croatia’s Young Magneto in the Making

Ivan Stoiljkovic, a six-year-old boy from a small town in norther Croatia, has been attracting media attention with his unusual gift of making large quantities of metal stick to his torso.

Young Ivan may not look to be in the best possible shape for his age, but that’s never stopped him from taking off his t-shirt and sticking metal objects on his chest and belly. “We always felt he was a bit different. At 15 months-of-age he was rollerblading, he started walking at eight months. He was less than two when he started driving a little motorcycle, and it was a bit weird,” says Ivan Surlovic, young Magneto’s grandfather. It all started as a joke, a few months ago, when Ivan’s grandmother was watching a show about a boy with magnetic capabilities. Her grandson took his shirt off and asked if he could do something like that, so they tried putting metal things on him and they just stuck.

According to Ivan Surlovic’s family, his powers are strongest in the morning and when he is calm and focused. They say he is capable of carrying up to 25 pounds of metal on his body, with heavier objects actually sticking better than lighter ones. His upper body appears to be more magnetic.

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Daphne Selfe – A Successful Supermodel at 82

In a world obsessed with physical beauty and aging, 82-year-old Daphne Selfe proves you’re never too old to have a successful modeling career.

The grandmother of four has been working in the fashion industry for over 60 years, and thanks to her perfect posture, incredible cheekbones and long, grey hair she’s now more popular than she’s ever been. Daphne has appeared in commercials for companies like Nivea and Olay, has modeled for designers the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and was featured in fashion magazines Vogue and Marie Claire. She has never had any cosmetic surgery done, and managed to earn up to $1,600 a day working as a model.

Daphne Selfe began her modeling career in 1950. She was 20 years old and her colleagues at a department store in Reading, England, convinced her to enter a local modeling competition, which she ended up winning. Selfe went on to become a house model for clothing manufacturers and furriers and appeared in a few advertising campaigns. She remembers she had a decent career for about five years, but she was nothing special back then.

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Indian Sadhu Has Kept His Right Hand Up for the Last 38 Years

Sadhu Amar Bharati is an Indian holy man who claims he has kept his right hand raised in the air since 1973. Now, 38 years later, his hand is just a useless piece of skin and bone, but has become a symbol for Shiva worshipers around India.

Until 1970, Amar Bharati was an average middle-class man who lived a normal life. He had a job, a home, a wife and three children, but none of that mattered when he woke up one morning and decided to leave everything behind and dedicate his life to serving the Hindu god Shiva. He began wandering the roads of India dressed in his simple Sadhu clothes and carrying only his trusty Trishula (a metal trident). After three years, in 1973, Amar realized he was still too connected to the fading luxury and pleasures of mortal life, and decided to separate himself from them by raising his right arm and keeping it raised. 38 years later, his arm is still up and he couldn’t use it, even if he wanted to.

Other sources claim Amar Bharati felt disillusioned by all the fighting going on in the world, and decided to raise his right arm for peace. A respected Sadhu at the Kumbh Mela, in Haridwar, Amar has inspired other Sadhus to raise their arms for peace and harmony, and some of them have kept them raised for the last seven, thirteen, even 25 years. But doing something like this doesn’t just mean giving up the functionality of an important body part, it also implies dealing with a lot of pain. Bharati himself says he went through excruciating pain for a long time, but not anymore. That’s because his arm is completely atrophied and stuck in a bizarre, semi-vertical position, a useless bony structure ending in thick, twisted nails that he never clips.

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Woman Claims Overeating Gives Her Orgasms

Gabi Jones, a 25-year old woman from Colorado, suffers from a rare medical condition that causes her to have orgasms every time she feasts on foods she likes.

Doctors have diagnosed Gabi’s strange case as persistent genital arousal disorder, which causes her to have orgasms without any sexual arousal. The young woman experienced her first food orgasm in her late teen years, while enjoying a frozen treat at an ice-cream parlour. Although it happened years ago, Gabi remembers she loved the smooth texture of the ice-cream on her tongue, when she felt a tingle in the genital area.” Then the pressure kept building until suddenly it swept through my body. I felt light-headed and flushed.” she says, adding that even though she was stunned by what had happened, she had no doubt it was an orgasm.

All of Gabi’s friends thought she was making things up, but every time she ate rich, creamy desserts, she felt that tingling between her legs. Some women would have felt a little worried, but this food-lover went out and got herself an ice-cream maker so she could enjoy knee-trembling orgasms any time she wanted. Gabi Jones has put on 209 pounds in the last five years and now weighs 490 pounds, but she is perfectly happy with her figure.

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Cindy Jackson – The Woman Who Refuses to Age without a Fight

At 55, Cindy Jackson currently holds the Guinness Record for the most plastic surgery, but doesn’t look like a monster at all. She’s just doing what she can to look as young as she feels inside.

In 2004, during an interview with CBS, Cindy Jackson admitted she never outgrew her obsession with looking like a Barbie doll. She saud: “I looked at a Barbie doll when I was 6 and said, ‘This is what I want to look like.’” That’s probably what a lot of little girls say, but they eventually grow out of it, which wasn’t the case with Cindy. Growing up as a farm girl in Fremont, Ohio, Cindy recalls she wasn’t very good looking, unlike her sister who was breathtakingly beautiful and always attracted more attention.

At 21, she moved to London where among other experiences, she had a short-lived career as a punk rocker. The years went buy, but her childhood obsession with looking like Barbie stuck with her, and at 33, Cindy got her chance to make her dream come true. When her father died, she inherited some money and decided to invest it all in her appearance. She began by having her upper and lower eyelids reshaped to open up her eyes, then moved on to liposuction on her knees and collagen injections. She admits her surgery was pretty extreme, considering she had multiple nose jobs, breast implants, cheekbone reshaping and implants, liposuction and microdermabrasion, but thinks her investment was wise as it allowed her to become a pioneering case study of plastic surgery. She also launched two best-selling books about her experiences, launched her own skin care treatments, traveled the world and got her singing career off the ground.

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Inspiring Iranian Artist Paints with Her Feet

Zohreh Etezad Saltaneh is a 49-year-old Iranian artist born with a birth defect that affected the growth of her arms, who manages to paint, weave and do house chores with her feet.

Born in 1962, Zohreh struggled with her condition at first, but says she owes everything she has achieved to her parents, who “brought me up in such a way that I have become self-reliant.“ Chores that once seemed impossible to do with only her feet gradually became easier and, although things like shopping are still a bit challenging, she can now do some things even better than normal people. It has taken her over four decades but “now I have come to terms with this issue. Sometimes when I’m working, I don’t necessarily think ‘these’ are my feet, or that I don’t actually have any hands.”

Zohreh remembers her mother put the paint brush between her toes at a very young age and encouraged to express herself in an artistic way. But not even her mother could have foreseen Zoreh’s success in the artworld – she has received numerous awards and her paintings have been showcased in over 60 national and international exhibitions. She is a member of the International Association of Painters and is currently studying for a masters in psychology. “My slogan has always been: ‘being disabled does not mean being restricted’,” she says, and her life achievement stand as proof.

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World Guy Rolls Giant Globe across America to Raise Awareness about Diabetes

“People don’t ask me if I’m crazy – they tell me I’m crazy” says Erik Bendl, also known as “World Guy“, a man who has spent most of the last few years trekking across the US rolling a giant globe.

Walking around 2,200 miles across 23 states is quite a challenge for any 48-year-old, but Mr Bendl decided to make it even tougher by rolling a 36-kg-heavy inflatable globe, everywhere he goes. It may sound useless and stupid, but it’s actually for a good cause – raising awareness about diabetes and the complications it causes.

World Guy lost his 54-year-old mother to diabetes, in 1987,and always wanted to do something memorable in her honor. In the late 1990s, he took the giant canvas globe he and his son used to play with and embarked on a 160-miles-long journey across Kentucky, for the American Diabetes Association, and also began walking in parades around the state. In 2007, after he and his wife got divorced, Erik Bendl set out on his first major trek across America, a 430-mile walk from Louisville to Pittsburgh.

Now, he’s halfway through his fifth long walk, talking to people he encounters and posting their stories on his blog, via the Blackberry smartphone hanging around his neck. He is accompanied by his dog, Nice, who loyally follows him on his daily 10-mile walks. When he completes his daily trek, he returns to his van, drives it to the spot he ended his walk, sleeps and does it all again the next day.

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Bald Contestant Qualifies for Miss America Beauty Pageant

Kayla Martell, a 21-year-old beauty pageant contestant, proved you don’t need natural hair to win a beauty contest, when she brought home the title of Miss Delaware and qualified for Miss America.

Young Kayla suffers from alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that attacks her hair follicles and practically causes baldness. Despite her condition, Miss Martell competed in the beauty contest several times, but was finally thinking of giving up her dream of winning the Miss Delaware title. A meeting with five-year-old Lilliana Hakim, who suffered from the same condition she did, changed her mind and inspired her to keep on trying. And this time around, her dream came true as she was named Miss Delaware and got to represent her home state in the Miss America beauty pageant.

Some say Kayla Martell won the title because, unlike the previous times she competed, she wore a wig to conceal her condition. Asked how she feels on the matter, the bubbly beauty queen responded “not at all. I hope the judges picked me because I knew I could fulfill the jobs of Miss Delaware.” She added that she only wears the wig on occasions, because it makes her feel more approachable, but she usually prefers the natural look.

Kayla started losing her hair when she was just 10 years old. She noticed her part was widening, and when that turned into a bald spot, doctors diagnosed her with alopecia areata. Though it wasn’t easy going through her teen years with a disease like this, she handled it with grace, and is now using her position as Miss Delaware to find and help other people who have alopecia.

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Need a Drinking Buddy? You Can Hire One!

With the holiday season fast approaching, if you haven’t yet found a drinking partner, your chances of actually finding one in time for the celebrations are getting very slim. But no need to worry, a Ukrainian firm has come up with the perfect solution – you can hire a drinking buddy.

The “employer” will definitely get his money’s worth, as this firm not only offers a swell drinking companion but someone with whom you can engage in conversations about all kinds of different subjects, like sports, politics, art, philosophy and even women.

The Kind Fairy used to be just another firm specialized in organizing weddings and birthday parties, but ever since they launched their “drinking buddy for hire” service, last December, business has really taken off. The fact that most of their drinkers have different talents, like singing, reciting poems or playing the guitar, offering a variety of choices that guarantee they will be able to liven-up employers’ evening, is considered partially responsible for the success.

But there is also a less obvious reason why people like this weird service – there are those who still consider therapy taboo and  would much rather discuss their problems with a stranger than seeing a psychologist.

Yulia Peyeva, head of the Kind Fairy, claims the services offered by her firm are nothing like dating or matchmaking,  nor do they encourage heavy drinking. Right, like Ukrainians need encouragement to drink heavily…


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Asher Bradshaw – The 7-Year-Old Skateboarding Sensation

While most kids his age spend their day playing with action figures or mashing the buttons on their Xbox, Asher Bradshaw likes to show off his skateboarding talent, at the Venice Skatepark, in Los Angeles.

I’m sure Asher isn’t the only seven-year-old skateboarder out there, you may even see younger ones, but his talent and fearless attitude are really unique. The young prodigy only took up skateboarding in May 2009, but in just a year and a half his become a master with the board. Looking at him in his oversized clothes, with a big helmet on his little head, people first think something along the line of “he’s so cute!” but as soon as he slides down the half-pipe, that attitude quickly changes into something like “damn, he’s rad!”

Most skateboarders train for years to master some of the most difficult moves, but little Asher has done it in just a few months time. He throws himself inside the giant bowls, jumps over up to ten steps, slides over stuff, and does it all fearlessly. And since he’s such a rad skateboarder, on the rare occasions that he does fall, he does it so hard that he spends a few minutes crying in his dad’s arms and quickly gets back to skating.

At just seven years of age, Asher Bradshaw is already a local celebrity and those that have seen him perform on a skateboard say he has a bright future ahead of him. Check out the video below and see for yourself:

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Chinese Stuntman Munches on Light Bulbs

Zhang Yujian, a Chinese stuntman from Mudanjiang City, Heilonjiang Province, has eaten two light bulbs during his performance, on Monday. XInhua reports the glass-eating master has a record of three light bulbs eaten in just 120 seconds. Now, I’m not sure if he eats the entire thing, but he certainly made short work of the sharp glass, without any serious cuts.

I knew the Chinese had some pretty bizarre foods, at least for my taste, but Zhang Yujian is taking things a little too far. I wonder if he’d be interested in meeting Russia’s sand-eating woman, I bet they’d hit it off. Read More »

Francisco Domingo Joaquim Has the World’s Largest Mouth

Known as the Angolan Jaw of Awe, 20-year-old Francisco Domingo Joaquim has earned the title of “world’s widest mouth”.

Francisco, known as Chiquinho, had become an Internet sensation about two years ago, when videos of his incredible mouth stunts became viral on Youtube, but scouts of the Guinness Book of Records just recently managed to track hm down, in his Angola hometown. His jaw-dropping tricks have been viewed thousands of times, earning Francisco quite a reputation as the man with the world’s largest mouth.

To prove there is nothing false about his reputation, Francisco participated in the Italian competition known as “Big Mouth”, where contestants literally put their jaws to the test. They put all kinds of strange things in their mouths, including saucers, coffee cups, bottles, but none could beat Chiquinho’s coke can stunt. Francisco Domingo Joaquim  easily won the contest and thanks to his rubbery 16.99 cm wide mouth, he also became the man with the world’s largest mouth, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Even more amazing is the fact that despite putting a Coke can in his mouth every day, and having never been to a dentist, his teeth are perfectly healthy.

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