Mandy Sellars’ legs keep growing, and doctors have no clue why. The 33-year-old U.K. woman has monster-sized legs that make normal life nearly impossible. People stare constantly, she cannot work full time, and she needs a special car to get around. Her left leg is five inches longer than her right and has a clubfoot, which is turned 180 degrees and facing backwards. Each leg weighs about the same as a normal woman’s entire body.
The worst part is doctors have no idea what’s causing Sellars’ problem. It could be caused by Proteus syndrome, also known as elephantitis. John Merrick, the Elephant Man, is believed to have had it. But doctor’s only solution is complete amputation of both legs. Sellars doesn’t like that idea much and is travelling to America for a new TV show in search of a cure.
More at the Mirror
GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING!
Do not swallow chewing gum! The consequences can be severe, as shown in this photograph of recent victims:
Gladys Burrill is a 90-year-old great-grandmother who is training to set a world record. In three weeks she will run her fifth Honolulu Marathon and attempt to break the world record for fastest marathon for women between 90 and 94 years old. She hopes to finish the marathon in under eight hours and 30 minutes.
Burrill’s passion for running started in 2003 when she saw the fireworks at the start of the Honolulu marathon from her porch and thought, "How exciting! I should do that." So she trained in race-walking and ran her first marathon the next year. "Oh, it is exhilarating, even though back about a mile you get kind of weary, when the finish line gets in sight it’s so exciting," she said.
Burrill has been a pilot, she’s climbed the 11,249-foot Mount Hood in Oregon, and has 22 great-grandchildren. Friends nicknamed her "Glady-ator." Her advice for living a rich, full life? "It’s important to be athletic, exercise and doing something, walking is the best. Your attitude — think positive and sometimes it might be hard to think positive, but you just do it."
Just do it — sounds like a good slogan for an athletic shoe company. Good luck, Gladys!
Story at KITV.com
You can’t watch the popular PBS television show "Antiques Roadshow" and not fantasize about finding a million-dollar painting hiding in your junk in the attic. This crazy dream came true for a woman who received an oil painting as a housewarming gift 40 years ago that turned out to be worth $500,000.
The amazing treasure will be featured on the first episode of the show’s 12th season to air in January 2009. That’s the value the show’s appraisers put on a Clyfford Still painting hanging on the woman’s wall since the 1960s.
"Clearly, the woman who brought this to us knew she had something special," said executive producer Marcia Bemko. "She just didn’t know how special it was."
The $500,000 price tag makes the painting the most valuable item appraised in the show’s history. And the painting will likely sell for much higher on the open market. Another Clyfford Still painting recently sold at auction for $21 million.
Read more at NY Post
A kitten with two faces was born Wednesday near Perth, Australia. Amazingly, the kitten meows out of both mouths at the same time! The kitten doesn’t have a name yet, but the owner is thinking of calling it Quasi Modo.
The kitten was delivered in a vet hospital because its mother was having complications with the birth. The two-faced cat was one of three in a litter and appears to be healthy.
The veterinarian nurse who delivered the kitten said she has never seen a two-faced cat in her 12-year career. "I have seen cats with two tails and extra legs, but not this," she said. We recently saw a cat with four ears.
Read more at News.Com.Au
An Oregon woman lost $400,000 to a well-known Internet scam. Janella Spears insists she’s not a sucker, but she became curious when she received an e-mail promising her $20 million if only she would help her long-lost relative with some up-front money. The scheme is called the "Nigerian scam" and is familiar to most people who use email.
Spears said the crook’s ability to identify her relative by name was persuasive. "That’s what got me to believe it," Spears said. "So why wouldn’t you send over $100?"
The nursing administrator said she mortgaged her house, took out a lien on the family car, and blew her husband’s retirement account. "The retirement he was dreaming of — cruising and going around and seeing America — is pretty much gone for him right now," she cried.
Spears estimates it will take years to clear the debt she accumulated in over two years of sending money to the con artists. Her family and bank officials told her it was a scam and begged her to stop, but she became obsessed with getting paid.
More at FoxNews
Publisher HarperCollins announced Monday it has chosen the word "meh" to include in its dictionary’s 30th anniversary edition to be published next year. The dictionary defines "meh" as an expression of indifference or boredom, or an adjective meaning mediocre or boring. As an example, the dictionary states "the Canadian election was so meh."
The true origin of "meh" is unknown, but the term became a pop-culture sensation starting with a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa. They both just reply "meh" and keep watching TV. The Simpsons revisited the word again in a 2004 episode "Hungry Hungry Homer":
The show opens with a commercial for Blockoland, the park where everything is made of Blocko Brand(tm) Assembly Fun Blocks. Homer is hooked, despite the fact that even the park-goers in the commercial seem un-enthused.
Homer: Kids, how would you like to go to … Blockoland!
Bart & Lisa: Meh.
Homer: But the TV gave me the impression that —
Bart: We said, "Meh!"
Lisa: M-e-h, meh.
The dictionary’s authors said the word originated in North America, spread through the Internet and was now entering British spoken English. "This is a new interjection from the U.S. that seems to have inveigled its way into common speech over here," McKeown said. "Internet forums and e-mail are playing a big part in formalizing the spellings of vocal interjections like these. A couple of other examples would be ‘hmm’ and ‘heh.’ "
HarperCollins selected "meh" after it asked people to submit words they use in conversation that are not in the dictionary. Other suggestions included jargonaut, a fan of jargon; frenemy, an enemy disguised as a friend; and huggles, a hybrid of hugs and snuggles.
With the explosion of the Internet, there is more self-expression today than at any other time in history. With the click of a mouse, you can instantly broadcast your message around the globe where potentially millions of people can see what’s on your mind.
But a decidedly more low-tech means of personal expression is currency defacing. Although it’s illegal in most countries, currency defacing allows you to create art that’s instantly valuable. How valuable of course depends on which denomination bill you deface. And when you are done enjoying your art, you can always spend it, and allow an anonymous chain of subsequent owners to enjoy your talent.
Check out the gallery of currency art at Asylum.com
