Have fun, win prizes, participate in our contests!
Jul 18th, 2023, 9:45 pm
I’m a malpractice lawyer — you must ask these questions before surgery

Image

He’s laying down the law.

A malpractice attorney has revealed the questions patients should always ask their doctors before getting surgery.

A legal eagle named Tommy, better known as @tommythelawyer online, said every patient has the right to know the role of the medical resident in the surgery.

“I promise you that you’re going to want to ask this question anytime that you’re going in for surgery, whether this is you or a loved one,” Tommy said in a new now-viral TikTok video that’s scored 2.3 million views since he posted it last week.

“Ask them: ‘What role will the resident play in my surgery?'” he advised, explaining that a resident is a doctor-in-training.

While they’re “technically a physician” because they’ve passed the necessary exams to practice as such, “they are, by definition, in training,” said the lawyer, who boasts more than 186,000 followers on TikTok.

Residents, he continued, are involved in just about any kind of surgery.

“They can have anywhere from 0 days experience, one day experience — to 2 years experience,” he said. “But you don’t know.”

Regardless, he added, it’s imperative to know what role they’ll play when you’re under the knife.
Tommy the attorney on TikTokA malpractice lawyer, who runs a successful TikTok account, regularly gives advice to medical patients online.TikTok/tommythelawyer

“Are they gonna be holding open the incision or cutting you open? Or are they gonna play a more active role in your surgery?” he continued. “You’re allowed to know this, and you should be allowed to have input into what role they have.”

Tommy the lawyer in a TikTokHe said patients deserve to know what role the medical resident will play in their procedures.

Tommy the lawyer in TikTok videoThe malpractice attorney has an impressive online following.

Commenters were quick to express gratitude for Tommy’s free legal advice.

“Thank you so much!,” one commenter posted on the thread. “My toddler has a MASSIVE and very serious surgery next year. I’ll absolutely ask this.

Others chimed in with their own tips: “I always ask my surgeon how he slept the night before — my surgeon and my airline pilot.”

“AMEN to that!!!!,” another exclaimed. “My Dad asked if they sharpened their knife before surgery.”

In a series of followup of followup videos after his original clip racked up millions of views, Tommy the Lawyer offered some additional guidance.

“Not everyone is always going to have the luxury to have this kind of time — but if you have time and if you are able to, you should always ask the surgeon the following question before they do any surgery on you: ‘How many of these surgeries have you personally performed before as the lead surgeon?’ “

This, to put it bluntly, is the “information you want to know,” he said. Beyond that, “that’s information you are entitled to know. I’m not a doctor but call me crazy, I want to know if my surgeon has done one of these surgeries before as opposed to 100 of them — that makes a difference to me.”

https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/im-a-malp ... e-surgery/
Jul 18th, 2023, 9:45 pm
Jul 19th, 2023, 2:36 am
Apple iPhone from 2007 sells for $190,000 at auction

Image

By Shiona McCallum

Technology reporter

Usually iPhones plummet in value as soon as you take them out of the shop.

But there are some special cases, as seen at an auction in the US, where a first edition, unopened 4GB model sold for $190,372.80 (£145,416).

Not many of these were made at the time, leading the model to be considered the "Holy Grail" by iPhone collectors.

The lot, run by LCG Auctions, attracted 28 bids in total and sold at nearly 400 times its original price.

The final fee includes the administration costs on top of the hammer price paid to the auction house by the buyer, known as a "buyer's premium".

The buyer's premium goes directly to the auction house and not to the seller.

LCG Auctions described it as "a popular high-end" and "red-hot collectable", adding that two other factory-sealed, first edition iPhones had sold at record values in the last year.

The website described the model as an "exceedingly rare, factory sealed, first-release 4GB model in exceptional condition. Virtually flawless along the surface and edges, the factory seal is clean with correct seam details and tightness".

Originally retailing at $599 (£457), the lot was expected to fetch in the region of $50,000-$100,000 - but managed to smash all previous records.

First released in 2007 by the then Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the tech giant made the decision to discontinue the 4GB model just two months after it was launched, due to lagging sales.

Most people decided to purchase the 8GB model, which was launched at the same time, and gave users double the storage space, for just $100 more.

Every few months, some rare Apple memorabilia or relics of Mr Jobs' life and career sells at auction.

They include a poem he wrote in a classmate's high school yearbook, photos of him in college and a business card from 1978.

In 2011 the Apple co-founder died at the age of 56 after suffering from pancreatic cancer. Apple said he had been "the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives" and had made the world "immeasurably better".

He introduced the colourful iMac computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad to the world.
Jul 19th, 2023, 2:36 am
Jul 19th, 2023, 4:26 am
Seagull statue with a female figure courts controversy in Massachusetts
By Ben Hooper





July 18 (UPI) -- A statue with the head of a seagull and the body of a human woman is raising controversy for a second time in a Massachusetts town.

Donna Dodson's sculpture, Seagull Cinderella, was first installed alongside Route 18 in New Bedford in 2016, sparking some complaints from residents who found the artwork too sexually suggestive.

The sculpture was moved to Dodson's hometown of Maynard for a time, but recently returned to New Bedford.

The sculpture has once again become the subject of complaints, and even a petition calling for its removal, despite Dodson making alterations to the formerly nude figure.

"This year she has the full daisy bikini, the full skirt," Dodson told WJAR-TV.

She said the artwork is meant to be empowering, not controversial.

"It's just a simple idea of what animal or bird would Cinderella be and, you know, again, thinking of this common seagull, so, it's basically just a seagull head on a woman's body," Dodson said.

Dodson said city officials are supporting the artwork and have asked her to leave it in place for the time being.
Jul 19th, 2023, 4:26 am
Online
Jul 19th, 2023, 10:05 am
This Art Stinks! German Artist Paints with Cow Manure
062323*

German artist Werner Härtl has carved out a truly unique niche for himself – he is currently the only known artist who uses diluted cow dung to create sepia-style paintings.

Here at Oddity Central, we’ve featured some funky art mediums in the past, from the artist’s own blood as paint, to dead cockroaches as canvases for tiny paintings, but in terms of weirdness, few things come close to Werner Härtl’s chosen medium. The German artist started experimenting with cow dung in 2012, during a stint as an agricultural worker. He packed some manure into a canister and used water to dilute it in order to obtain different sepia tones. These days, he prefers to get the ‘paint’ directly from the source, placing the canister just under the cow’s rectum as it poops. He claims that harvesting just two bovine bowel movements provides him with enough material for at least half a year.

Image
Photo: Werner Härtl

A resident of Reichersbeuern, a village in Germany’s Bavaria region, Werner Härtl uses the state’s rural and agricultural background as the main source of inspiration for his paintings. Cows are his favorite subjects, but his paintings also depict tractors and other agricultural machinery, fertile fields, village houses, and even self-portraits.

“While painting, I use water to dilute the dung and achieve different shades,” told Ripley’s. “I start scribbling using very dry, gentle brushstrokes. Then, I use watered-down dung for light shades. Finally, I use dung with no water mixed in for the dark shades.”

Interestingly, Werner Härtl claims that his monochromatic paintings don’t stink at all. Well, at least after a while, because when the paint is fresh, it’s another story…

“When it is wet, the ‘paint’ is a bit funky, but when it’s completely dry, it doesn’t smell anymore,” the artist said, adding that it usually takes a few days for the cow dung smell to disappear from the canvas, and up to two weeks from a sheet of paper.
Jul 19th, 2023, 10:05 am
Jul 19th, 2023, 12:09 pm
To Colonize Squid, Bioluminescent Bacteria Need To Know When To Count
It’s a remarkable story of symbiosis, but first bacteria have to know when to turn the lights on.

Image

Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) are known for their bioluminescent glow, which is thought to be used to camouflage them as they attack from the direction of the Sun. Unlike fireflies or jellyfish, however, the squid do not produce the light themselves, instead having outsourced luminescence to bacteria that make a home in a specialized light organ the squid have evolved beneath their mantle.

The squid are not born with the bacteria however, and the process of how colonization takes place turns out to be a remarkable one, now revealed for the first time. Although so far only demonstrated in one bacterial species, the authors of the study revealing the process think it represents a much more widespread behavior among single-celled organisms forced to conduct complex operations without a brain.

“The bacteria we study, known as Vibrio fischeri, is associated with many different marine hosts, but its association with Hawaiian bobtail squid is the best characterized,” said team leader Dr Tim Miyashiro of Penn State in a statement.

We don’t really understand what a lot of bioluminescent organisms get out of spending so much energy to produce their beautiful glows, but for V. fischeri the benefits are as obvious as their light. The squid provide the bacteria with nutrients, as well as a relatively safe haven that can evade predators better than a free-floating bacterium can.

What has been more mysterious is how the symbiotic relationship is engaged. It takes a lot of bacteria to produce a useful glow – until then, producing light is just wasting energy. Consequently, V. fischeri use a process known as quorum sensing, where behavior changes once a certain density has been achieved.

Quorum sensing is a common technique among microscopic organisms, used to modify production of defensive chemicals and is also used by our own immune cells. However, there are extra challenges in this case. V. fischeri form aggregates outside the squid prior to colonization. But emitting light in the open ocean without the nutrients provided by squid is wasteful at best, and might attract the wrong sort of attention.

"So, the question is 'how do the bacteria avoid the quorum sensing pathway when they form these large aggregates outside of the squid and instead initiate behavior that promotes colonization?'" said Miyashiro. "What we saw was that the aggregation pathway activates the production of a small RNA molecule that is normally repressed by quorum sensing. Therefore, when the signaling pathway that leads to aggregation is activated outside the squid, the RNA molecule is expressed, which enables the cells to bypass quorum sensing to remain motile and dark."

The relevant piece of RNA is known as Qrr1. When safely in the squid’s light organ, Qrr1 gets shut down and when quorum sensing reveals the time is right, the bacteria start to glow. Outside, however, the authors discovered that transcription factors LuxO and SypG keep Qrr1 operating so the bioluminescence doesn’t turn on. The factors operate “similar to an OR logic gate,” the authors write, to keep Qrr1 working when stealth mode is required.

"When we look across the bacterial family that includes V. fischeri, we see very similar structures that suggest to us that this type of coordination is likely to be important for many symbiotic bacteria,” Miyashiro said.

Of course, not all the bacteria that colonize animals are symbiotic. Pathological bacteria, such as those that sometimes take control of the human digestive system, may operate in similar ways; understanding the process might be helpful in stopping them.

The study is open access in eLife.

https://www.iflscience.com/to-colonize- ... ount-69883
Jul 19th, 2023, 12:09 pm

Book request - The Mad Patagonian by Javier Pedro Zabala [25000 WRZ$] Reward!
https://forum.mobilism.org/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=5412023
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:04 pm
Image

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
WEDNESDAY JULY 19

What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

EXAMPLE POST
Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag
Image
A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.
[/quote]
Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -6)
3:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)

on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life :lol:
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:04 pm

Image
Image
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:08 pm
Firefighters Rescue Dog Stuck Behind Toilet

A team of Texas firefighters got a little dog out of a tight spot on Monday.

“A small dog had managed to wedge himself behind a toilet,” read a Facebook post from the Woodlands Fire Department. “Firefighters found that ‘Tippy’ was well and truly stuck.”

Image
Tippy, caught in a ruff spot.

Photos show the tiny canine with his head sticking out from behind one side of the toilet and his body sticking out the other. Ultimately, freeing the pup necessitated removing some of the wall’s Sheetrock.

Image
The other end of Tippy.

Fire Chief Palmer Buck told People that Tippy’s owner suspected the dog had jammed himself in there in an effort to find a cool spot amid the state’s record-breaking heat wave.

After being rescued from his harrowing ordeal, the department wrote that Tippy “was last seen dozing comfortably in a much less precarious place.”
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:08 pm

Image
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:29 pm
You can immerse yourself — literally — in this Broadway show

Image

On Thursday, a new $22 million musical opens on Broadway and it may be a bigger risk than most. Here Lies Love, with a score by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, literally turns the Broadway Theatre into a disco, with many members of the audience on the dance floor, surrounded by the actors. It tells the story of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos' rise and fall in the Philippines. At a time when Broadway ticket sales are down, is an immersive new musical a way to bring audiences back?

After a recent preview performance of Here Lies Love, a crowd gathered outside the theater. "I thought it was very fun," said Nico de Jesus, who had just seen the show. "I didn't expect to get a history lesson in a disco, but I did!"

"I think this is a risky, adventurous, one-of-a-kind endeavor," explains director Alex Timbers, "its success or failure will probably have some impact on whether people try to do something like this again."

Here Lies Love was a hit off-Broadway, 10 years ago, at the much smaller Public Theater. And the immersive staging was essential to David Byrne's concept. He read that Imelda Marcos was a fan of disco – she was a frequent visitor to Studio 54 and installed a mirror ball in Malacañang Palace. So, he wrote a score with a thumping beat and melodic hooks, to invite the audience to dance along with her. "I imagined it as being a theatrical story, a musical story being told in a discotheque," Byrne says, laughing, "and on little platforms around the periphery."

"Getting to walk through the audience and really connect with them every night, I feel like I'm getting to experience the show fresh," says Arielle Jacobs, who plays Imelda from age 16 to 57, when a revolution forced the Marcoses to flee the country. "I'm literally three feet from you. You know, I'm touching them. I'm shaking their hands."

The theater has gotten an expensive makeover. Three hundred audience members stand on a dance floor, while others sit directly above it or in the balcony. Set designer David Korins has used 63,000 pounds of structural steel to construct the new environment and wrapped the auditorium with video screens that give historical context. "We build not just playing spaces, but we build seating places for audience to sit, looking down into this box," he explains. "We have catwalks that performers are walking on. We have things that you normally would never think about building, right? So, we have running lights and fire egress and emergency lights and exit lights ...We had to file permits with the city."

And in this 360-degree environment, choreographer Annie-B Parson says the audience is asked to dance. "Often when you go to the theater, you're just sitting on your seat, you know, and the thing passes by, and you have some sort of vague experience," she says.

But in Here Lies Love, audience participation is not all fun and games. Director Alex Timbers says as the show goes on, you become aware of the corrupt, repressive, murderous Marcos regime. "The audience can get cast in the drama in a way so you can be cheering on at the wedding of Ferdinand and Imelda. But then 40 minutes later, you can be at the funeral march for Aquino," Timbers explains. "And you feel in a way complicit; you know; 'I cheered when they won the presidency, but now I realize the tyranny of dictatorship.' "

David Byrne says the show looks at the fragility of democracy. "People were seduced by the Marcoses," he says. "They were glamorous. They were good looking. They did keep a lot of their campaign promises in the early days. So, it seemed to a lot of people very promising, but then it all goes south."

For most of the cast members, Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos' rise and fall happened long before they were born, but Arielle Jacobs says the legacy is something they all share. "It's so exciting to be in this cast of 100% Filipino people," says Jacobs, "because all of us, I think, feel such a deep connection to this story and to each other. There is such a community."

"That felt really Filipino. Like a party vibe kind of thing," said an audience member named Rodrigo Bucsit. "It's cool because you don't realize how representation really matters until you actually see it. And this kind of sounds corny, but you kind of get tearful because you don't realize how much media you already consume that's not you. And then when you see a full show where it's like all Filipinos, it's kind of it's awesome."

For those unfamiliar with the history, there are displays in the lobby, as well as a QR code in the Playbill, which links to a historical timeline. And, to the surprise of many audience members, they learn the current president of the Philippines is Bongbong Marcos, Imelda and Ferdinand's son, and Imelda, who famously left thousands of pairs of shoes in the palace when she fled in 1986, is living there again.

"At its best, theater is showing you something while entertaining you," says set designer David Korins, "something that is thought provoking and meaningful." And, in the case of Here Lies Love, in a completely kinetic way – in the audience's bodies.

https://youtu.be/yW2weVPToec

So, is this the future of Broadway theater? Already an immersive production of Guys and Dolls is being imported from London later in the season, so theatergoers will walk through Times Square to enter an environment depicting Times Square.

David Byrne well knows the boom-and-bust nature of the business. "It is a huge gamble for us and for Broadway theater owners," the songwriter explains. "But the demographic of the audience is different than the usual Broadway show. They're much more diverse and much younger than the usual Broadway show. And I thought, that's what Broadway needs."

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188156414/here-lies-love-broadway-david-byrne
Jul 19th, 2023, 1:29 pm
Jul 19th, 2023, 2:01 pm
Bagger 288 – The World’s Largest Excavator
062623*

Comparable in height to a skyscraper and weighing a whopping 13,500 tons, the German-made Bagger 288 holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest excavator.

Here at oddity Central, we love big, heavy machinery! In fact, we just featured the world’s largest dump truck, the BelAZ-75710, a Belarussian behemoth capable of carrying a load of over 500 tons. However, this metal monster looks positively tiny next to the world’s largest excavator. A one-of-one, the Bagger 288 giant excavator was produced in 1978 by German company Krupp and has been holding on to the title of ‘world’s largest excavator’ ever since. It can go through 240,000 cubic meters of rock per day, and is used to produce around 8.5 million tons of coal per year.

Image
Photo: Lothar Hakelberg/Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

The Bagger 288 excavator is more than worthy of its Guinness Record. It stands 96 meters tall, which makes it almost as tall as a skyscraper, it is 220 meters long, and it weighs a massive 13,500 tons. It features an enormous rotor with 18 built-in buckets, each with a volume of 6.6 cubic meters, which feed the excavated rock onto a large conveyor belt for processing. Interestingly, the Bagger 288 requires a team of just 4 people to operate – 2 to control the rotor, 1 in charge of the conveyor belt, and a supervisor. Because having to come down regularly for toilet and lunch breaks would take too long, the excavator features its own toilet and kitchen.

As you can imagine, powering this massive contraption requires ridiculous amounts of energy. The Bagger 288 is powered It is powered by an external power source providing over 16 megawatts, through a giant electrical cable. Because of the huge costs of operating this behemoth, it is only used in large-scale mining operations.

Believe it or not, this giant piece of machinery is mobile! The Bagger 288 was deployed at Hambach, the largest open-pit quarry in Germany, shortly after being completed in 1978. However, in 2001, it was decided that its services were of greater use at the Garzweiller surface mine, about 22 kilometers (13 miles) away. Not the longest distance for the average vehicle, but quite a challenge for the world’s largest excavator.

Experts concluded that disassembling the Bagger 288 and reassembling it at the new site was too costly and complicated of an affair, so they decided to simply drive it there instead. That required some groundwork, though. Sections of the road from Hambach to Garzweiller were sown with grass to ensure that the soil could support the enormous weight of the machine and a meter-thick layer of sand was poured over the road and railway tracks to prevent damage. River sections were also covered with stones to make crossing them easier. Power lines had to be dismantled and then reconnected after the Bagger 288 passed, because there was no way around them.

The move of the world’s largest excavator took about three weeks, which sounds like a lot for just 22 km, but keep in mind that the Bagger 288 moves at a top speed of about 1 kilometer per hour, and there were a lot of unforeseen situations to deal with. However, thanks to the twelve 3.8-meter-wide tracks supporting the excavator, it did not exert too much pressure on the soil, and the moving operation was considered a success.

The Bagger 288 is considered somewhat of a tourist attraction, and people sometimes drive to the Garzweiller mine just to see it in person. And to be fair, this thing is quite a sight to behold, especially when performing the task it was designed for – digging through coal deposits like butter.



Interestingly, the Bagger 288 shares the title of the world’s largest excavator with the newer Bagger 293, unveiled in 1995. The two have very similar dimensions, but the legendary status of the older model and the story of its epic move from one quarry to another makes it a lot more popular.
Jul 19th, 2023, 2:01 pm
Jul 19th, 2023, 4:07 pm
Man and His Dog Survive 2 Months at Sea Drinking Rainwater and Eating Raw Fish

Image

From the Pacific Ocean comes a harrowing and inspiring tale of survival, as sailor Timothy Shaddock, 51, and his dog were rescued after 3 months adrift at sea.

Now being treated by the ship’s doctor onboard a tuna trawler that rescued him, Australian news reports that he has sustained no major or serious injuries.

“I’m just needing rest and good food because I have been alone at sea a long time,” Shaddock said after being rescued. “Otherwise I’m in very good health.”

Nevertheless, his appearance was one of a man on the ragged edge, with a diminshed physique, and hair grown out in such a way that the ship doctor compared him to Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway.

Shaddock departed from Sydney in May in a catamaran en route to French Polynesia, but bad weather knocked out all his electronics, and he was soon lost in the great blue nothing.

Shaddock kept himself protected from sunburn by hiding under a canopy, and the heroic, persevering sailor managed to catch enough fish with the gear he had onboard for him and his dog Bella to survive over 2 months of isolation.

Rainwater kept them alive while they hoped for rescue, which came in July in the form of the tuna trawler’s helicopter. He’s being brought back to Mexico where he will receive proper medical attention.
Jul 19th, 2023, 4:07 pm

Twitter: Fatima99@fatima99_mobi
Image
Jul 19th, 2023, 5:30 pm
Finalists Announced in the 2023 Comedy Pet Photography Awards — See the Photos!

Image

You can always count on your furry friends to put a smile on your face!

The 25 finalists for the 2023 Comedy Pets Photography Awards were recently announced, and these photos of pets from around the world are paw-sitively hilarious.

The competition started a few years ago when professional photographers Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks, who already ran the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, wanted to branch out and bring awareness to the joy pets bring to people's lives. Their hope is that the annual tradition encourages the support of small grassroots animal welfare charities.

"Through the Comedy Pets, we want to promote positive awareness of animal welfare issues and celebrate the incredible and valuable contribution that pets can and do have on our lives," the organization's mission statement reads.

Anyone who wants to vote for the People's Choice Award has until Aug. 6. Six judges will also determine the winner of the Overall Best Photo award, which comes with a trophy, a £500 ($654.55) cash prize and a SpeedTop crossbody bag.

The images will be judged by whichever most successfully "combines the best technical excellence with the most amusing content and caption." Winners will be announced on Aug. 11.

Here are some of the finalists:

Klaus-Peter Selzer with “the Three Greys"
Image

Sophie Boynton with “When digging gets serious”
Image

Corinne Mooser with “So this is the source of happiness”
Image

Lana Polykova with “Oscar winning performance”
Image

Kenichi Morinaga with “Football free kick”
Image

To see the full article and all the photographs click HERE.
Jul 19th, 2023, 5:30 pm

Image
Jul 19th, 2023, 7:35 pm
World's oldest bodybuilder going strong at 90




A California man who was named the world's oldest bodybuilder in 2015 had his title updated when he participated in a recent competition at age 90.

Jim Arrington, who was first named the world's oldest bodybuilder by Guinness World Records at age 83, broke his own record by participating in an International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness Professional League event in Reno, Nev.

Arrington placed third in the men's over-70 category at the event, and first in the over-80 category.

The athlete said he was born at just 5.5 pounds and suffered from multiple health issues during his early years. He said he started lifting weights at age 15.

"I wanted to be a superhero," he told Guinness World Records.

Arrington, who still spends two hours at the gym three hours a week, said holding the world record "opened an entire new universe," including a feature in Men's Health last year.
Jul 19th, 2023, 7:35 pm

Image

Believe me, you are someone's crush. Yes, you are!
Jul 19th, 2023, 9:58 pm
ARCHBISHOP’S SEAL FOUND DURING EXCAVATIONS AT ST. GEORGE’S (YURIEV) MONASTERY

Image

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have uncovered a seal of the Archbishop of Novgorod Spiridon during excavations at St. George’s (Yuriev) Monastery.
St. George’s (Yuriev) Monastery was an important religious centre of the Novgorod Republic, a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th century AD and stretched from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east.

The monastery is situated on the banks of the Volkhov River in Russia’s Novgorodskaya oblast, where today it is recognised as a world heritage site for Orthodox spirituality and Russian architecture. The site is also an important source for historical information on medieval Novgorod, as part of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the Synodal text) was compiled in the monastery.

Recent excavations in the monastic layers have led to the discovery of a residential building that dates from the 13th to 15th century AD. The structure appears to have been burnt during several phases of destruction, but in the upper layers, a lead hanging seal used to fasten important documents was uncovered, the fifth example of a seal discovered during ten years of archaeological research of the site.

Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the seal bears the name of the Archbishop of Novgorod Spiridon (1229-1249), who ruled the Novgorod diocese during the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus’ in the mid-13th century AD. Most Rus’ principalities were forced to submit to Mongol rule and became vassals of the Golden Horde, however, the Novgorod Republic resisted and maintained their independence.

On one side of the seal there is an inscription in five lines with the name of Spiridon, Archbishop of Novgorod, and on the other side is a depiction of Mary, which in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, describe her as the Mother of God.
Jul 19th, 2023, 9:58 pm
Jul 20th, 2023, 1:13 am
Dachshunds race for title of 'Fastest Wiener Dog in the West'

By Ben Hooper





July 17 (UPI) -- Dozens of dachshunds took to the track at a California race course for the 26th Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals.

The canine race at Los Alamitos Race Course featured dozens of long dogs running 50-yard trial heats before the final championship race to crown the top dog.

The fastest dachshund in Saturday's event was Beenie Von Weenie.

"Fantastic! I've been coming every year. And he nailed it," owner Nicolee Leonard told KABC-TV. "He won a doghouse and $1,000. And the title, 'The Fastest Wienie of the West!'"

The race served as a fundraiser for the Seal Beach Animal Care Center.
Jul 20th, 2023, 1:13 am
Online
Jul 20th, 2023, 2:37 am
Daniel Weinman wins record-breaking $12.1M prize in World Series of Poker

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN

July 18, 2023

Image
Daniel Weinman displays his championship bracelet and bundles of cash after winning the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings.

Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900.

As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.

“I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament,” Weinman told reporters after his victory.

“I’ve always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible,” the Atlanta native added. “And to win this main event, it doesn’t feel real. I mean, [there’s] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well.”

When asked what he would do with his winnings, Weinman opted to keep his cards close to his chest.

“I have no clue. Probably invest it. Probably not the best answer everybody wants to hear, but I’m fairly cautious with it away from the table. Even though I like to gamble pretty hard,” he told reporters.

“Today will hold a special place in the history of live tournament poker,” World Series of Poker Senior Vice President and Executive Director Ty Stewart said in a press release after Weinman’s victory.

“After 17 years, we have named the winner of the largest Main Event in the history of the WSOP. To watch Daniel’s emphatic victory over the 10,043 entrants was nothing short of spectacular. It will be an honor to raise his banner next year and display his picture in the new Gallery of Champions Exhibit at the Horseshoe.”
Jul 20th, 2023, 2:37 am