Fancy being pelted with paintballs for a living?

1A position as a paintball bullet tester has attracted a whopping 10,000 applicants from across the UK and even further afield, with hopefuls from the US, Canada and India also putting their hat into the ring.

The job, which was advertised by UKPaintball as having a salary of £40,000 a year pro rata, has shocked the firm with its popularity.

UKPaintball owner, Justin Toohig, said: “This incredible response is the last thing we expected when we posted the advert. We couldn’t have predicted that so many people in the UK and beyond would want to get shot for a living.”

The part-time bullet tester advert that attracted all the interest called for those who were “looking for a new challenge with… awesome colleagues?” and said that people with “relatively high pain thresholds” should look into the opportunity.

“The job will essentially involve being shot at with every new batch of paint bullets to ensure that all health and safety checks are in place before we can use them on the general public and paying customers.

“Whilst the checks will of course be carried out by trained professionals with a wealth of experience, the role may pose a small risk of pain, discomfort and some bruising.”

World’s ‘worst Christmas tree’ finds a new home

A Christmas tree described as the worst in Britain has found a new home after it was ridiculed at Christmas 2013 by residents of Stockton, the town where it was erected.

The 20-foot tree was described as a ‘dunce’s hat, an ice cream cone and an embarrassment’ along with other choice phrases when it was put up in Stockton town centre by Stockton Council last year.

The tree – which was made of white fabric and cones with illuminated snowflakes – became known as the worst tree in the country and residents clamoured for it to be taken down. However, this year it has found a new home in a nearby town.

Judith Haysmore, chief executive of the Daisy Chain autism charity, was offered the tree by Stockton Council and gladly accepted. It now sits outside a charity building in nearby Norton.

“I know not many people seemed to like it,” said Ms Haysmore to Sky News. “But when Stockton Council offered it to us we were happy to take it in and give it a home.”

A council spokesman added: “Surely there must be a place in our hearts at this time of year for the lost, the lonely and the outcast … including Christmas trees.”

If you’re going to get punched in the face, at least look pretty while you’re at it…

Amir_Khan

Amir Khan has announced that he will be wearing the “most expensive shorts” in the history of boxing for his welterweight clash with Devon Alexander on Sunday.

The pair are meeting at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and England’s Khan, 28, has revealed that he will be wearing shorts that are worth around £30,000. The trunks will be made of white nappa leather, silk and have a waist band made of 24-carat gold thread.

The sound divine!

The flashy fighter will be taking on American boxer Alexander, with the winner purportedly going to fight against Floyd Mayweather in 2015.

To reclaim some masculinity for the well-dressed boxer, check out some of his greatest hits below…

Frank and Louie, the world’s oldest two-faced cat, dies

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How could you say no to a face… faces like that?!

One loveable feline managed to give a whole new meaning to the term ‘two-faced’ during his lifetime. 

The oldest two-faced cat in the world, named Frank and Louie, has died aged 15. He lived in Massachusetts with his owner Marty Stevens. 

Frank and Louie had two mouths, two noses and three eyes, but only one brain, which meant that both of his faces responded in unison. He was honoured in the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records as the longest-surviving ‘Janus cat’ in the world – so called after a Roman god with two faces.

The vast majority of Janus cats do not survive more than a few days, and many have a litany of other congenital defects. Careful nursing from Ms Stevens, from 1999 when she first took in the cat, until his death this year, saw him survive far longer than expected.

“I tube-fed him until he was three months old because I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to eat,” she told The Telegram of Worcester.

Ms Stevens also said that she would love to care for another Janus cat in the future: “I would love to do it again.”

Priest warns teens against using Ouija boards this Christmas

Image: Dave Winer

Image: Dave Winer

A Catholic priest has warned people not to play with Ouija boards over the Christmas period in case they accidentally allow evil spirits into their home.

The Dublin-based man of the cloth spoke anonymously to the Irish Independent about the boards, which are believed by many to be a way of contacting the dead, saying: “It’s easy to open up evil spirits but it’s very hard to get rid of them.

“People, especially young people and teenagers who are likely to experiment with Ouija boards on a whim, can be very naive in thinking that they are only contacting the departed souls of loved-ones when they attempt to communicate with the dead using the boards. “It’s like going to some parts of Africa and saying I’m personally immune to Ebola, but it does leave people open to all kinds of spiritual dangers.”

The most famous film based around the idea of exorcism, The Exorcist, is due to be released again this Christmas in an updated format. It follows the release of the popular film, Ouija, starring Olivia Cooke.

Darren Ansell from the Paranormal Study and Investigation team agreed that Ouija boards were not a good idea for a festive game, saying: “[I] wouldn’t touch an Ouija board with a barge pole. I’ve had too many scares over the years.”

Ever wondered what Ukip supporters can and cannot eat?

ukipcookbook

The Ukip cookbook guides you through the minefield that is what to eat as a Ukip supporter.

Really fancy a croissant for breakfast? No! You can’t! Replace that pathetic EU-subsidised excuse of a breakfast with a full English, and if you’d forgotten how to cook one, just use grease!

Comedy writers James Harris and Mark Blakewill have worked together to produce a hilarious unofficial Ukip cookbook that isn’t actually a cookbook at all.

The book instead takes a satirical look at the political party continuously hitting the headlines.

Released under the fictitious character Nigel Sewage, the comedy writers have previously worked on Horrible Histories and Russell Howard’s Good News.

The tongue in cheek book is written from “the perspective of a UKIP-supporting, Europe-hating Little Englander”.

The writers explained: “Not only is the book a backhanded compliment to foreign food, it’s also an opportunity to laugh at the severe limitations of British cuisine.”

Featuring vetoed food items such as taramasalata and pizza, the book recommends a British alternative, including a Scotch egg and a Ploughman’s lunch. The comedic writings use the book to poke a little bit of fun at the views of Ukip and its supporters.

The comedy duo raised funds for the project on Kickstarter and say that the book is an ideal gift for someone who doesn’t hate being part of a multicultural society within Europe.

World’s oldest potato found

1A tiny spud that has been passed down through family members for 60 years has been declared as the world’s oldest ever potato.

Deborah Skipper’s gran – Alice Hancock – initially kept the potato as a good luck charm, and then passed it down to her son, Alan.

In 2004, Alan gave the tater to his daughter Deborah, 58, who has kept it ever since.

The family heirloom, which is now around the size of a penny, has survived for six decades.

Although initially quite a small potato, time has taken its toll, leading to it shrinking down to its current state.

Deborah said that she had known of the aging potato’s existence even at childhood, as her gran used to carry it around with her everywhere she went, first in her apron and later in her purse sat alongside a horseshoe charm.

She explained: “Nan kept it as it was part of a very good crop in the vegetable garden that year.

“She was very superstitious and saw it as a good luck charm for the future.”

She added that she would look after the treasured petite vegetable as her gran once did, until it was time to hand down the family heirloom and lucky charm to her daughter, Gemma.

Would you like a slice of Jennifer Lawrence cake?

1Have you ever looked at Jennifer Lawrence and thought to yourself ‘she looks good enough to eat’?

Well one lady has, but rather than dismiss this as a fleeting thought, she went to the extreme of making her thoughts a reality, baking a life-sized Jennifer Lawrence cake.

The to scale creation is the brainchild of British baker Lara Clark, 28.

No stranger to larger than life baking, Ms Clark is known around the world for her Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow cake, which made headlines last year.

She entered the 5 ft 5 in crisped rice cake to the Cake International event, and won herself the top prize in the decorative exhibit contest.

And this year she has gone one better, not only creating a 5 ft 10 in Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games sponge cake but also a second offering depicting Game of Thrones character Tyrion Lannister.

The 28-year-old said: “People said my crisped rice Johnny Depp cake wasn’t a proper cake, so I wanted to show them I could make a life-sized sponge cake.”

The creations took two and a half months to complete, but Ms Clark was rewarded for her efforts, taking first and second place in the competition.

Ms Clarke said the win was “hugely exciting”, but that she would now need “long lie down”, the BBC reported.

Surgeons successfully transplant ‘dead hearts’

1Surgeons at a Sydney-based hospital have performed a miraculous feat – bringing ‘dead hearts’ back to life and using them in two successful transplants.

The surgical team at St Vincent’s Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Unit’s work could have helped to put an end to the shortage in the number of organs able to be donated – something which has the potential to transform countless lives. Their work – which was achieved thanks to research carried out in conjunction with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute – has been described as the ‘biggest heart transplant breakthrough’ in a decade.

Professor Peter MacDonald, director of St Vincent’s Hospital Heart Lung Transplant Unit, confirmed that a ‘heart in a box’ machine called the ex vivo organ care system (OCS) coupled with a new preservation solution created by researchers at the hospital and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute allowed the dead hearts to be brought back to life following circulatory death (DCD). These measures allow the heart to be “reanimated, preserved and assessed” until the recipient is ready to receive it.

One of the recipients of the hearts was Campsie-based Michelle Gribilar, 57, who was suffering from congenital heart failure. She now says she “feels like she is 40” following the procedure. “I was very sick before I had it. Now I’m a different person altogether”.

Halloween’s most tasteless costume: Ebola suits

95th Civil Support Team and 95th Chemical Company Joint Training

 

US shoppers on the look out for the perfect Halloween costume for this year will now have a range of Ebola-themed outfits to choose from, with the range sparking much controversy across the country.

Emergency protection clothing has been touted as the most popular costume for Halloween 2014, with a range of hazmat suits, respirators, rubber gloves and gas masks going on sale despite the Ebola crisis raging on.

For sale at costume shops across the US, the yellow and white hazmat suits, which are most commonly donned by health workers who are coming into contact with Ebola samples or patients as part of their work, have proven a hit with buyers.

Richard Parrott of Ricky’s costume confirmed that “people are definitely asking about an Ebola-type costume”. However, he went on to say that, while he had thought about making an Ebola-style costume and donating a portion of the profits towards finding a cure for the virus, he had decided against it as it “felt like it probably crosses a line that we don’t want to cross”.

Another firm, BrandsOnSale, is selling an ‘Ebola Containment Suit Costume’ for $79.99, (AU$91) featuring a white outfit emblazoned with the word ‘Ebola’. The store says that the outfit will “literally be the most ‘viral’ costume of the year”.

Many feel that these costumes make light of what is an incredibly serious issue – more than 4,500 people have so far died from the disease, mainly in West Africa.