Don't Sit For Too Long!

Source: Orange

Park officials in China have found a way to stop people from hogging their benches for too long - by fitting steel spikes on a coin-operated timer.

If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter, dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat.

The spikes are too short to cause any serious harm - but long enough to prevent people from sitting on them comfortably.

Park bosses got the idea from an art installation in Germany where sculptor Fabian Brunsing created a similar bench as a protest against the commercialisation of modern life.

"He thought he was exaggerating. He didn't foresee that a very practical country like China might actually use them for real," said one critic.

Parks in China suffer from chronic overcrowding at weekends when millions of people try to escape the country's teeming cities.

"We have to make sure the facilities are shared out evenly and this seems like a fair way to stop people grabbing a bench at dawn and staying there all day," said one park official.

It's mostly young couple hogging the benches and making out.. so I don't know about the effectiveness of these so-called spikes.

TOO YELLOW!

Hip Hop Monks In Japan

Woah.. never heard a chant in rap style. And also I thought alcoholism was prohibited. Monks don't drink!

Source: CNN

Avatar fans suicidal because planet Pandora is not real

Source: Telegraph

Fans of Avatar have been left feeling blue by the realisation that the utopian planet Pandora is not real, with some saying they are plagued by suicidal thoughts.

The futuristic blockbuster from director James Cameron tells the story of a corporation trying to mine for a rare mineral on the planet Pandora after Earth's resources have been depleted.

The humans clash with the natives – a peaceful race of blue-skinned creatures called the Na'vi who live in harmony with nature.

Fans of the film have flooded the internet to express their distress at realising they will never be able to visit the utopian planet.

On one website, Avatar Forums, the topic "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible" has more than 1,000 posts.

Ivar Hill, a 17-year-old fan from Sweden, wrote on a similar site: “When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed grey. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning … It just seems so meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”

On another website, a user known as Mike was even more acutely affected. He wrote: "Ever since I went to see Avatar I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them.

"I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in Avatar.”

Stacy Kaiser, a psychotherapist, said obsession with the film was masking more serious problems in the fans' lives. "They’re seeing Avatar, they're lonely people, a lot of them don’t have a lot going on in their lives right now," she said. "The movie opened up a portal for them to express their depression.”

Don't really have much to say. I know people get really caught up with stories and movies. Just looks a Star Wars freaks!

Suicide is a bit extreme though!

Oooooooh matchmaking!

Source: Reuters

The health ministry plans a matchmaking program where it will bring single public servants together for social gatherings and community service work in the hopes of fostering love among available bureaucrats looking to wed.

The ministry has been doing its homework on the unmarried.

"We found that single people fall into certain categories, much like the unemployed," said Choi Jin-sun of the ministry's human resources development division.

It will split the unmarried between those that way by choice and those by circumstance, and has devised plans to help any segment of the unwed population find a partner and settle down.

The government in late 2009 unveiled a plan to boost South Korea's birthrate, the lowest in the developed world.

The country is graying quickly and needs to boost the population to expand the economy and provide payments to government coffers for the increased welfare spending that comes with an aging society.

"We're not talking about a one-time mass meeting among singles, but regular, constant opportunities where singles can meet and mingle naturally," said Choi.

These people work together, why don't they just ask each other out for lunch or something. South Korean men need a government program and tax dollars to get laid?

That's pretty sad.

On second thought, after watching those unbearable shitty Korean soaps, this does not surprise me.

107-year-old Malaysian woman seeks 23rd hubby

Source: Yahoo!

A 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to marry for the 23rd time because she fears her current drug addict husband might leave her for a younger woman, a report said Monday.

Wook Kundor made headlines four years ago when she married Muhammad Noor Che Musa, a man 70 years her junior in northern Terengganu state, with pictures of the couple's wedding splashed across regional newspapers.

But Wook is now looking for new love as she fears that Muhammad, 37, who is undergoing voluntary drug rehabilitation treatment in the capital Kuala Lumpur, will leave her once the programme ends, she told the Star newspaper.

"Lately, there is this kind of insecurity in me," the paper quoted her as saying, showing a photograph of the smiling, wrinkled-faced centenarian wearing a Muslim headscarf.

"I realise that I am an aged woman. I don't have the body nor am I a young woman who can attract anyone."

"My intention to remarry is to fill my forlornness and nothing more than that," she said, adding that she felt lonely without her husband by her side to celebrate the coming Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr next week.

Wook said she planned to visit Muhammad on the second day of Eid if her neighbours were willing to drive her to the capital.

Muhammad, who was a lodger in Wook's house, had previously said it was "God's will" that the couple fell in love.

It was such a shocker to hear about their marriage years ago. Does she feel insecure to not have a husband or something? Gotta face reality that not alot of people will marry a 107 years old lady unless they're around the same age

Summer Bitch Festival

Source: English Funny

How does this leak out? How do you not know?

Lotte is a sponsor! Lotte is a huge food company, they can't be happy.

I know the English in Korea isn't 100% perfect, but how the hell can they mess up this badly?

How bout not being so sensitive!

Source: StarTribune

I'm not important enough to warrant a beer summit. But I did get a bottle of water out of the deal.

Last week, as the rest of the country tried to forget the unpleasant confrontation between Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police officer James Crowley, I had my own Gates-Crowley moment.

I went to Fridley to interview the president of a large manufacturing company. I arrived a few minutes before noon and told the receptionist at the front desk I was looking for the president's executive assistant.

"Oh. Are you delivering food?" she asked.

Oh, no, she didn't!

It wasn't the first time I was mistaken for a Chinese food delivery guy. In college, I had arrived at my girlfriend's dorm with dinner and the front desk dude assumed just that. I was embarrassed, to be sure, but let it go. That's the burden of being a Chinese-American with a penchant for baseball caps, jeans and takeout food.

Yet the receptionist's inquiry stunned me. I was wearing a dress shirt, black slacks and black dress shoes. True, I was sporting a backpack and sunglasses, but how many food delivery guys whip out kung pao chicken from a Gap bag?

After realizing her error, the receptionist offered a rather clumsy explanation. "I only asked because [the executive assistant] always orders food," she said.

Nice try, lady. Someone's not getting a Christmas card this year.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. At least she didn't speak extra slowly and offer a tip.

As I drove back to the office, chugging the bottle of water the company had given me, I chuckled to myself. I wasn't too upset. The receptionist seemed way more embarrassed than I was.

But then I told the story to friends and colleagues. I expected them to laugh and sympathize. Instead they offered several explanations, everything except what seemed obvious to me.

Yeah it's only obvious to you cause you're damn sensitive.

And why were you embarassed? You got something against delivery workers that you feel EMBARASSED to be called one? Many people start out working in Chinese restaurants. Entire families are supported by one delivery guy job. You should be ashamed.

Last I checked secretaries are quite busy and they're not going to notice everything. Let's say her boss ordered Chinese food, so she's just asking if this is food. If the delivery guy walked in and she mistakened him for the journalist, do you think he would be as upset as you?

Secretaries deal with hundreds of people a day plus a bazillion phone lines. So she thought you were someone you're not.. boohoo. She apologized for it. If it were me, I would have just ignored it, but instead you made a person feel bad for a mistake, hope you're proud of yourself.

This whining is newsworthy? Some newspaper editor accepted this? This isn't journalism. This is something a little blog like mine would write about!

Not everything is racist you know.

Chinese bride trains eye on wedding dress record

Source: Reuters

A Chinese bride is hoping to enter the record books after getting married in a wedding dress with a train more than 2 km (1.2 miles) long trailing behind her.

It took guests more than three hours to roll out the gown, complete with 9,999 silk red roses attached to it, in the northeastern province of Jilin, state news agency Xinhua said.

"Both the length of the dress and the number silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," the report quoted groom Zhao Peng as saying.

Zhao, who has applied to Guinness World Records, said he was inspired after seeing a story on the previous record holder in Romania, where the dress measured just over 1.5 km.

"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," he said.

Bride Lin Rong "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture," Xinhua said.

The dress cost around 40,000 yuan ($5,856), which prompted initial opposition to the plan from his family.

"It is a waste of money in my opinion," said Zhao's mother. "Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."

Cripes! Isn't planning a wedding stressful enough without having to deal with a 2km train! I know you want your wedding to be special but this is beyond stooopidity.

I want the simpliest of weddings with little stress as possible. I don't need a perfect day, I'd rather have a perfect wedding night (wink wink)

A Big Fat Pampered PIG!

Source: China.org.cn

Li Yuan never thought a pig could bring so much happiness - a laid-back sort that enjoys music, provides company on neighborhood strolls and makes friends easily.

Two years ago, Li bought the piglet from a market in Beijing. The male pig, a Bama miniature, had a short and round body.

Such piglets typically weigh 15 or 20 kg, or 33 to 44 pounds.

It was the pig's certain charm that sealed the sale.

"I found him looking like a lovely baby at my first glance," said Li, patting the pig's now-huge belly. "Oh, my boy, you are destined to meet me."

Told that raising a pig when she was in her 50s could bring good fortune, Li cherished the pig so much she named him Laifu (or "fortune comes").

"Indeed, he brings me good business and a peaceful soul," said Li, who is a merchant.

How it is in China everything is a superstition? So fattening up a PIG to 50 years old bring good fortune. I don't know who will live longer? The owner of the pig!

Phone lost 4 days at sea found

Source: Reuters

A mobile phone lost at sea for four days washed up in perfect condition in Taiwan after drifting 37 km (23 miles) and was discovered by a park lifeguard who tracked down the shocked owner to return it, the finder said on Friday.

Yu Hsin-leh of Taipei lost the phone on July 24 while snorkeling near the Taiwan port city of Keelung, Taiwan's United Daily News reported.

On Monday, it turned up in Longdong Bay Park on the island's northeasternmost cape after floating past numerous towns and rocky outcroppings.

A small water-resistant case had protected the phone at sea, said park lifeguard Lin Huan-chuan, who found it.

Lin said he recharged the battery and called Yu's wife by finding her in the phone's list of saved numbers.

"All the phone's functions were normal," Lin said. "The owner was extremely surprised as he figured he had lost it for good."

Come on people. Cell phone while snorkeling!? Leave your cellphone behind when doing relaxing activities. If I snorkeled and my phone vibrated, I'd drown!

Beluga whale saves diver

Source: Ananova

A beluga whale in a Chinese aquarium saved a diver by pushing her out of the water when she had sudden cramps in her legs.

A spokesman for Harbin Polar Land in north-east China's Heilongjiang province said the diver was taking part in a competition in the aquarium.

Entrants were required to dive into the 6-metre-deep cool pool without any breathing equipment.

The person who dives the deepest and stays down for the longest time wins the competition.

Yang Yun, an applicant from a local Chinese Medicine College, dived to a depth of 4 metres on her first trial.

"Maybe I was too nervous, and my legs had sudden cramps," she explained. "I never dive into the water so deep and so cold. I was so nervous then.

"When I was choking with water and plummeting to the bottom, a sudden force pushed me out of the water," said Yang, who swam to the bank and was rescued by other competitors.

An activity organiser said the beluga, Mila, is very familiar with humans and she spotted the problem first.

"We didn't notice the problem until we saw Mila holding the diver's leg with her mouth and pushing her out of the water," said the organiser.

Yang Yun thanked the audience and Mila by diving into the tank again after making a full recovery.

More proof that animals have amazing instints and more proof of stoopid Chinese ideas. A diving and holding your breath competition? Who thought this up?

Entrants were required to dive into the 6-metre-deep cool pool without any breathing equipment. The person who dives the deepest and stays down for the longest time wins the competition.

You can't have that? People are going to die one day if not this time.

The whale must be thinking, "These humans are idiots, I have to save them every time!"

Chinese hack film festival site

Source: BBC

Chinese hackers have attacked the website of Australia's biggest film festival over a documentary about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

Content on the Melbourne International Film Festival site was briefly replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans on Saturday, reports said.

In an earlier protest on Friday, Beijing withdrew four Chinese films.

Melbourne's The Age newspaper says private security guards have been hired to protect Kadeer and other film-goers.

She is due to attend the screening of Ten Conditions of Love, by Australian documentary-maker Jeff Daniels, on 8 August.

.....more

I'm glad Australian festival is making a stand. They should show whatever movie they want and China should stop bullying other countries with their messed-up politics.


Youtube Link

Japanese boss accuses woman of stealing his pants

Source: China Daily

A Japanese businessman was ordered to apologize publicly and pay "spiritual damages" to the tune of 1,000 yuan ($146) to a woman he wrongly accused of stealing his trousers in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The woman, an employee of the Japanese businessman, dragged her boss to court last December after he publicly announced she had stolen his trousers and fined her 50 yuan, which were cut from her wages.

The Donghu Development Zone People's Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, saying the defendant had hurt her feelings after he perfunctorily circulated the notice of criticism.

Love the "spiritual damages" part! That's like psychological damages in the US right?

"Donde Este Mis Panthalones?"

Chinese universities faking employment rates to boost ratings

Source: Canada.com

Some Chinese universities appear to be faking employment rates among their graduates in an effort to keep their own ratings high in these economic hard times.

On Tuesday, the official China Daily confirmed the Internet buzz that some universities are providing the government with documented "proof" their graduates have found jobs, even though they are still unemployed.

"Due to fierce competition among universities, especially second-tier ones, the performance and reputation of a school largely depends on its employment rate after graduation," an unnamed "education expert" was quoted telling the English-language newspaper.

According to the Chinese language Southern Metropolis Daily, the job scam was revealed on the popular Internet forum Tianya when a "netizen" got a peek at his university records and was astounded to find he had a job.

"I was immediately stunned. Heavens! I have obtained employment. The agreement documented stated the name of my employer in black and white, next to a big red stamp of that employer," he wrote.

Chinese lying? Noooo. Say it ain't so. Universities obviously want to show they have a good employment rate to prove they program delivers results!

I love how a student found out he's employed when he's not! woohoo!

Traffic lights malfunctioned nearly 30 years

Source: Daily Yomiuri

For nearly 30 years, two traffic signals at a T-junction in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, simultaneously turned green for about seven seconds at a time, it has been learned.

An accident at the junction in June brought the issue to the attention of the Fukushima prefectural police.

The malfunction was caused by a programming error--a mistake that had never been rectified.

The police have apologized to the drivers involved in the accident and have removed one of the offending signals.

The T-junction is located 1.5 kilometers northeast of JR Aizu-Wakamatsu Station, where a prefectural road meets National Route 49.

One signal was for cars exiting a car dealership on the north side of the junction. The other is a signal with an arrow that lights up to indicate that cars traveling from the east on Route 49 may turn left onto the prefectural road.

On June 19, a car traveling from the east on Route 49 turned left onto the southbound prefectural road and hit a vehicle exiting the car dealership.

Both drivers reportedly told the police the traffic lights were green, which prompted the police to launch an investigation.

How's it possible that nobody noticed before? SEVEN SECONDS? That's a long time. Imagine you are at a red light. The light turns green and now count 7 seconds! In Calgary if you don't move in ONE second someone behind you will honk!

I think everyone in town must have known about it and it was their special traffic light. I would guess that two idiots from out of town decided to run into each other and ruin a 30 year secret! :)

Boy drank gasoline to copy his TV heroes

Source: Shanghai Daily

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy drank gasoline for five years to obtain "energy" - just as his idols "Bumble Bee" or "Optimus Prime" do in "Transformers," the Sichuan-based West China Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

After the boy, in Yibin City, southwest Sichuan Province, had watched the animated TV series, he began to drink gasoline to become a "valiant fighter" like "Optimus Prime," his father told the newspaper.

"He began to drink gasoline five years ago, when we found he liked smelling lighter fuel," he said.

The boy's mother owned a grocery stall, selling small goods such as lighters.

In 2004, she often found lighters missing two or three days after she'd bought them. She later found that her son had been stealing them.

The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again. "But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.

FIVE years ago? Too shocked to say anything? You're parents! If my boy ever drink gasoline he'll get a quick boot up his ass!

Worst Music Video You'll See Today

Source: AllKPop

Former race girl Jung Eun Joo now singer released a digital single called Nudity recently and her cheap looking, somewhat bordering on soft porn music video for her song, Hot Hot has irked many netizens in Korea.

Jung Eun Joo debuted as a race girl in 2006 and also released a pictorial book in the same year. Since then, she had stopped all forms of activities for the past 3 years before resuming her entertainment career in June and releasing her first mini-album on 16th July.

But with Nudity being the mini-album title and her trot title song being called Hot Hot, it doesn't help but make one think that she is using sex to sell the mini-album. In addition, the short music video for Hot Hot has raised lots of eyebrows for it's suggestive content and making people feel like they are watching a soft porn video instead.

Youtube Link

Wow. Could anything be worse in this video? Terrible song, girl can't sing and in conservative Korea, she's showing off everything. As a girl I think it's incredibly cheap! Looks like the music video production cost about $5. And this chick wants to go mainstream?

What do you guys think? Acceptable video? Is she HAWT?

Police urge hybrid car drivers to turn lights on

Source: Daily Yomiuri

The police in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture will launch a campaign to encourage drivers of hybrid cars to turn on their lights during the day to prevent accidents caused by the quiet engines of such cars, among other reasons.

Starting this month, Koriyama Police Station's patrol cars have been driving with their lights turned on during the daytime. The police were set Wednesday to attend a citizens event aimed at eradicating accidents and call on hybrid car owners to drive with their lights on.

Sales of hybrid cars are rising due to a tax reduction for eco-friendly vehicles. However, it has been pointed out the silent engines used in the hybrid cars--a combination of an electric motor and a gasoline engine--could pose a danger to visually disabled and elderly people who are less likely to notice the approach of a quiet hybrid car.

The Construction and Transport Ministry on July 2 held a committee meeting to discuss accident prevention measures. At the meeting, there were more than 60 reports on potentially dangerous minor accidents.

Toyota Motor Corp., which manufactures the Prius hybrid car, is studying ways of alerting pedestrians about the approach of quiet cars, including through the use of warning beeps.

"Car visibility will be enhanced if vehicle lights are turned on during the daytime," an officer of Koriyama Police Station said. "As the car engines are quiet, this step also will be useful for other cars."

So all the meetings and planning that went into inventing a car, nobody thought about a car bring loud? A car needs to sound like a car so people know it's a car!

Imagine walking on the sidewalk and not being able to hear a car approach you! I'd be scared out of my wits every 2 seconds.

Idiots!

Neverland: Chinese Edition

Source: Yahoo!

Chinese developers are commemorating the late Michael Jackson by building a scaled-down replica of his Neverland Ranch on an island off Shanghai, a state-run newspaper said on Friday.

Investors in the project, which will cost about 100 million yuan ($15 million) to build, hope it will open on Chongming island ahead of next year's Expo in Shanghai, the China Daily newspaper reported.

While they are not as popular as the Taiwanese and Hong Kong stars who dominate the music scene in China, Western artists are making inroads in the local market, thanks to young fans.

"By building a Neverland here in China, we want to pay tribute to him and at the same time offer the Chinese people an outlet for expressing their love toward him," the report quoted Qiu Xuefan, one of the investors, as saying.

Jackson, who died on June 25 in Los Angeles, abandoned Neverland -- once filled with theme-park rides and even a zoo -- after his child molestation trial in 2005.

.....more

China has way too much on its hands. This is doomed to fail. How much can you charge a local Chinese person to visit the place before it gets boring and will tourists really want to visit this place when they can visit the real Neverland? The real Neverland won't be abandoned, they'll probably turn it into a similar Graceland.