Puppy love: Peruvian pooches tie the knot

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Extraordinary

For better or for woofs

There are few more precious things in this world than the sweet sanctity of marriage and now it seems the dreams of walking down the aisle extends beyond the human species.

Around 40 dogs in the Peruvian capital of Lima have tied the knot in a mass canine wedding ceremony. Wearing white wedding frocks and black tuxedos, the furry pets yapped their vows while their undoubtedly barking mad owners watched on with tears in their eyes.

The district of San Miguel even went as far as to issue wedding certificates to the owners which featured the paw prints of the happy couples. Engraved matching collars, a buffet of meat chunks covered in gelatine and a dance to Baha Men’s appropriately named hit single ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ all followed.

The video below from Sky News captured the magical moment, with some of the pooches seemingly (and understandably) overwhelmed by the gravity of the commitment they had just made.

Form an orderly queue ladies: murderer appears on dating show

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Extraordinary

Third time's a charm: Sefer Calinak killed two perviously lovers

Third time’s a charm: Sefer Calinak killed two previous lovers

People who choose national television as a suitable dating platform are probably never going to be the exemplification of normality, but a man in Turkey has stunned the world when his past came out on ‘Luck of the Draw’.

Sefer Calinak, 62, dropped a clanger that would even have had the fake tan-clad beauties on Paddy McGuinness’ ITV equivalent turning their lights off. Mr Calinak, it transpired, had previously been in prison… for murdering his first wife… and a subsequent lover.

At the age of 17, Mr Calinak eloped with a woman who was involved in an arranged marriage. The family of her supposed husband-to-be found out about the couple and jealousy and distrust led Mr Calinak to kill his first wife.

He served a shortened sentence before being released and remarrying. He later separated from his new wife and embarked on an affair with a married woman who swore she would leave her husband for him. When his latest lover went back on her word, Mr Calinak says he “accidentally” killed her when he “swung the axe”. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

The misguided Romeo was released early once again under Government amnesties and now says he is a changed man. Appearing on the show on Turkish channel Flash TV, Mr Calinak said it was his destiny and he did all because of jealousy – but that he is now “an honest man”.

He applied to appear on the show in a bid to find a new love but as his story shockingly unravelled, the host asked him to leave and the orderly queue of women waiting to be wooed by the axe-wielding Lothario was promptly dispersed.

Watch the flabbergasting footage from Flash TV below:

Have scientists found the key to eternal youth?

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Extraordinary

The vampire theory – proving that children really are our future

It was hard to ever see anything positive coming out of a sparkly-skinned Robert Pattinson prancing around after a moody teenage girl (for three whole films!). But it seems that the world’s subsequent obsession with all things vampire over recent years might finally have yielded something worthwhile.

The so-called ‘vampire theory’ states that young blood could reverse the effects of ageing and scientists in the US have put it to the test. Remarkably, three independent studies published this week have all indicated that there is truth behind it.

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Stamford University and the University of California each found that by putting young blood in the body of an older creature, you can rejuvenate brain and muscle tissues.

By testing on mice – naturally – the lab boffins founds that a protein named GDF11, which is also present in humans, was the key to tissue restoration. By having more of it in your blood, as young people do, humans could theoretically reverse age-related declines in memory and learning, brain function, muscle strength and stamina.

The publication of these significant scientific findings are being met with a word of caution not to try this at home. So, in the constant fight against wrinkles, if people have a gruesomely ageing portrait of themselves covered in the attic perhaps don’t throw it away just yet.

But for those worried that their salad days are well and truly behind them, it is advisable to keep in the good books of any grandchildren with a better birthday present offering than a pair of socks – they could prove an invaluable resource in the future. Alternatively, maybe think about investing in a large collection of pet mice.

World’s fattest woman wants to half body weight for dream wedding

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Extraordinary

World’s largest lady needs to half her body weight to realise wedding dreams

A bride-to-be wanting to shed a pound or two so they look their best on the wedding day is about as normal as the groom having no say in the colour of the flower arrangements.

Charity Pierce is taking this one step further though… or perhaps step is the wrong word; Ms Pierce is hoping to lose as much as 20 stone to realise her dream of just walking down the aisle.

The 38-year-old holds the unfortunate title of being ‘the world’s fattest woman’, tipping the scales at 54 and a half stone. Her fiancé Tony Saur is 17 years younger and 30 stone lighter than she is.

The pair’s ambitions to share a first dance together, however, depends on Ms Pierce losing half her body weight just so that she qualifies for a life-saving gastric bypass operation, aka a stomach stapling. If she doesn’t, then the future Mrs Saur, who has been housebound because of her weight and illness since 2001, will have to say the words “I do” from the comfort of her own living room.

Ms Pierce is hoping to appear on American TV show ‘My 600lb Life’ to find the help and money she needs to lose weight. She said: “I’m determined not to have to get married at home – I want to be able to walk up the aisle.

“We both love country music so I plan to wear a wedding dress, cowboy boots and cowgirl hat and Tony will be in jeans and cowboy boots.

“I want a big area, lots of people there and I want to dance all night and have the best honeymoon ever.”

You can see more of her full story in a video by Barcroft TV below.

Five weirdest crowdfunding projects ever

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Extraordinary

Woman got over £4,000 from strangers online to get a boob job

Crowdsourcing has become an increasingly common fundraising technique in the 21st century. The online fundraising technique is a great way to turn a particular project or product from a dream to a reality.

From charitable venture to groundbreaking scientific theories, it has helped provide financial backing for a great deal of fascinating and worthwhile initiatives in recent years. But, naturally, so too has it bankrolled some odder ones.

One such example is that of Northumberland’s Gemini Smith. The 23-year-old trainee undertaker appealed to the online community to help her raise the £4,450 she needed for a boob job.

Gemini said that her 34A bra size made her feel like “12-year-old boy” and by speaking to men online managed to scrabble together the money via American website MyFreeImplants.com; she is now boasting 34DDs.

It is a story that has been met with a host of media attention. But in the grand scheme of things, there have been many more extraordinary cases of crowdfunding – here’s our top five:

5. World’s largest jock strap

Unfortunately this project was not even to offer genital support to the world’s most well endowed athlete – this Guinness World Record attempted raised $854 to create a giant jock strap for no reason other than to do it. They did it to be fair.

4. Robocop statue

We would all feel a lot safer if Robocop was roaming the streets. Well the people of Detroit have plumped for the next best thing, in May 2011 members of the www public dipped into their pockets and scraped together $67,436 for a statue of the man-cum-machine law enforcement officer that now proudly stands on Wayne State University campus.

3. Tardis in space

Doctor Who fans are an odd bunch; there can be no questioning that. But to prove it one fan took to Kickstarter to bankroll a campaign to get a Tardis – the time travelling phone box – launched into orbit. The fan in question asked for a laughable $33,000 … and actually managed to raise $88,000.

2. Giant Lionel Richie head

Terrifying and beautiful in equal measure, last year the founders of Bestival smashed their target of £4,900 to create a giant sculpture of Lionel Richie’s head. The massive, three-metre-high head pleased music fans at the festival and regardless of whether or not it was him you were looking for, you saw him.

1. Watermelon holders

Don’t you hate it when you have all your shopping bags and despite how much you struggle you just can’t get a good grip on your watermelon? Yeah? Exactly. Well Mike Draghici, the Da Vinci of pointless fruit-themed inventions, tried to raise $25,000 for a watermelon holder. Shockingly he only got six backers. Some ideas are just too far ahead of their time but keep the faith Mike; one day, one day.

G.E.N.I.U.S

Six sticks with ‘character like the Spice Girls’ sell for £62 on eBay

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Extraordinary

This is not the Spice Girls

Whether it’s water from a cup that Elvis Presley once drank out of, a piece of toast with the face of the Virgin Mary burnt into it or an empty jar claiming to contain the ghost of some man’s friend, there’s just about nothing you can’t buy on eBay. Or perhaps more accurately, there’s just about nothing that some idiot somewhere won’t spend their money on.

The latest bizarre item bought at the world’s largest online auction is a set of six sticks resembling the Spice Girls.

A user who goes by the moniker Whackychop sold the set of twigs – which they retrieved from De Beauvoir Square in Hackney, London – for £62… plus £3.20 postage and packaging. Worryingly, the tree parts actually received 27 bids, all thanks to this seller’s unique way of marketing his foraged goods.

Whackychop, or Babak Ganjei to use his real name, likened the bits of bark to the Spice Girls, stating that each had its own unique personality and appearance. Indeed, the description also claimed the sticks were “travel-sized” and “premium” because of the fact they come from such a coveted area of the city, making them the perfect for any parent looking to impress their young daughter.

It is unclear whether it is the sticks’ outlandish characters or angelic singing quality that reminded Whackychop of the purveyors of ‘girl power’, but you must admire his East End entrepreneurial spirit in being able to flog the twigs for more than a speckled hen a piece.

Man to sue Greggs after blistering love affair with pasty

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Extraordinary

Phwoar! Now that’s a sexy pasty…
Copyright: David Johnson

Howard Russell, a 32-year-old sales manager from Cheshire, is planning to sue the high street bakery chain Greggs for negligence. Why? Because it failed to warn him about the dangers of putting your penis inside one of its pasties… of course.

There are a lot of Britons who love pasties but Mr Russell probably loves them a bit more than the average punter. However, for anyone who shares his romantic zeal for a chicken bake, heed this lesson: when trying to consummate a relationship with a freshly baked savoury snack, beware that it can burn your more sensitive nether regions.

Speaking to the Sunday Sport, the pasty-poker explained that he has a weird sexual fetish involving Greggs’ chicken bakes (I know, why not a sausage roll, right?!). Obviously, Mr Russell is not some sort of uncouth sex fiend – he waits until he gets home before reheating his tasty treat and doing to the deed.

Unfortunately the dangers of a steaming hot ‘meat-filled’ pastry parcel were not properly explained to Mr Russell and as a result the tip of his member was sorely burnt. He is reported as telling the paper: “That, to me, is a clear case of negligence and I intend to sue.

“I ran my helmet under cold water straight away but I’m still in agony and can barely walk. It’s covered in blisters. I may never be able to have sex with a pasty again.

“I made a phone call to one of those solicitors who advertise on the telly but unfortunately the person on the end of the phone had some sort of coughing fit when I explained my predicament.”

Real or a hoax, you decide. Either way, how successful this ludicrous legal action will be is yet to be seen.

Dogs: the good, the bad and the down right stupid

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Extraordinary

Who’s a good boy? ….. Huh?!

Loyalty, companionship, the ability to retrieve a stick – these are just some of the fine and admirable qualities that dogs possess.

Intelligence, however, isn’t always that high up on the canine résumé; take everyone’s favourite animal investigator Scooby Doo out of the equation and you would have to admit that problem solving isn’t something that comes naturally to man’s best friend.

Well, a video has gone viral showing the Finnish magician Jose Ahonen giving himself a little ego boost by outwitting a series of hopeless pets. And their simple yet endearing reactions certainly make for great watching.

While these pooches might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, there is one dog out there that you can’t pull a fast one on. In the name of balance it seemed only fair to show this dog in Asia who dutifully stands on guard by his owner’s bike, only to then jump on board for a lift home when master returns.

History of Europe in three minutes (video)

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Extraordinary

Screen shot 2014-03-19 at 17.57.04

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” or so said Spanish philosopher and writer George Santayana. And, with the Crimean crisis raging on in Eastern Europe, these words seem particularly poignant.

It is 150 years since the Crimean War saw British, French and Turkish troops traveled to the Black Sea peninsula to quell Russia’s advances through the Middle East and Europe. Now, once again, the floating block of land dangling off the south of Ukraine is the centre of political tension, with the threat of military actions also pending.

As an aide to people who might not have swatted up on their history recently, a time lapse video has surfaced that outlines the history of Europe over the past 1,000 years. The three-minute video maps the evolution of Europe from 1,000AD to near the modern day using software from the Centennia Historical Atlas and it has been widely shared across social media sites.

The strangely engrossing video, which comes complete with Hans Zimmer’s Inception score, races through the rise and fall of countless European empires. It serves as a valuable illustration of not only the staggering level of conflict in the continent’s history but also just how recently geographical boundaries have changed and new nation states have been created. Watch the video below.

“History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.” John F. Kennedy.

The five craziest theories about the missing Malaysian plane

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Extraordinary

Screen shot 2014-03-18 at 17.41.36

How a giant Boeing 777 could just disappear without a trace is, in itself, an extraordinary piece of news. However, the vanishing has also (unsurprisingly) given birth to a plethora of fantastical theories of what happened to the jet.

The ever-expanding, multi-national search is now entering its 11th day and while there are countless perfectly plausible outcomes being explored, there are countless other people letting their creative juices flow as they voice their own somewhat less likely thoughts on what happened to the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

At risk of being made to look rather foolish should any of these ideas prove to be true, here is a quick rundown of some of the more inconceivably wonderful brain nuggets to have graced social media and online forums.

1. Illuminati

Numbers. People love to draw upon the significance of numbers whenever any major tragedy strikes. So here you go: the missing plane was the 404th Boeing 777 to have been manufactured. ‘So what?’ I hear you ask, well as a keen Reddit user pointed out: “An HTTP 404 error means not found, which in this case is oddly appropriate for the status of the aircraft, or just a coincidence. Coincidence, I think not!” What conspiracy this implies is unclear… but it is a conspiracy nonetheless.

2. They are living on an island with a polar bear

Comparisons with the hit US TV series Lost were inevitable from the moment the news broke. Theories that the plane went off course, crashed, and the inhabitants are now fighting their own inner demands and a magical island became prevalent as quickly as people could type them out.

3. Aliens

The A word was never going to take long to rear its extra-terrestrial head. Swathes of social media users have touted it as the only possible explanation. And in case you are struggling to conceptualise just what that look like, don’t worry, someone has made a very useful, thorough and educational video below.

4. Bermuda Triangle take II

One Bermuda Triangle seems implausible – the conspiracy theorists’ favourite polygon gets enough bad press for any missing item as it is, but now people are suggesting that there could be a second such phenomena in the South China Sea, meaning that flight routes are going to have to become yet more convoluted. Again, the tenacity of people in the pursuit of their theories must be admired as one Twitter user takes the effort to show just what the mysterious triangle might look like.

Mystery solved – that’s what a triangle in the sea would look like…

5. Courtney Love knows where it is

If all the above somehow fail in the attempts to find Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 then authorities need look no further than the Twitter timeline over Kurt Cobain’s former partner Courtney Love. As shown below, she has kindly taken the time to point out exactly where it is. Phew!

Courtney love cracks it! (via Twitter)