How to walk past a group of teenagers without attracting attention. "Just keep looking down at your practical shoes like the shame-filled, frightened adult you are," advises Sarah Hutto in the New Yorker. "Don't contemplate your weaknesses, thereby emitting adult-fear pheromones. Specific things not tothink about include: polyps on any part of your body, your incipient jowls or cankles, marital issues, either one of your mortgages, your multiple food intolerances, HPV, or gingivitis. Possible things to think about instead: your stellar fibre intake, having met your health-insurance deductible for the year, the more-than-adequate frequency with which you change the litter box, your dental-care regimen, and your solid driving record." Read the full column online.
Man talk - the truth about locker rooms
Donald Trump reckons his vulgar bragging about groping women is simply what men do; locker room chat. So what is Locker Room Chat, really? "Some old guy I never met told me about his knee surgery. It was graphic," tweeted one gym user. "Debating whether it's cost efficient to keep a hot tub running through winter or stop-start it on demand," offered another. But some athletes feel they have been tarred with the same, unpleasant brush. Former NBA basketball player John Amaechi described Trump's comments as "some fantasy stereotype about what locker rooms are like. This somehow sterile environment where man-children blab about non-consensual sexual contact with women." He went on to say he's heard men use words to describe women that he would not approve of or use, but said talk of non-consensual sexual act is way worse. Matt Miller, a former college football player and bodybuilder says, "you talk candidly about issues and you're a man, so you brag about sexual exploits being bigger than they were". (Source: the Guardian)
News nostalgia, February 1931: Fifty days into a fasting contest England's Alf Wilson had to withdraw on the advice of his doctor. This left New Zealander Raymond Tac the winner. However, Tac was eager to keep fasting. So soon after he launched into an attempt to break his personal record of going 90 days and four hours without food. Tac sealed himself behind a glass wall so spectators could view him trying to live for over three months on mineral water and cigarettes. It is unclear if Tac succeeded in his attempt to break his record.
Bat Balloons.
Picture this: Bat balloons for Halloween. Buy them here...
Video: China's "death simulator" is an attraction opening in Shanghai where participants are given the opportunity to be "killed off" by their peers "cremated" and then "resurrected" by birth through a latex womb chute...
Video: BBC are doing another season of Planet Earth with David Attenborough. Here's a sneak peek...
