When Lady Gaga appeared on stage in a dress made entirely of raw meat last year, you would have been forgiven for thinking the fashion world couldn't get much weirder. Well, think again.
Making Gaga's steak dress look positively tame, this year a designer by the name of Rachel Freire created something even odder: a dress made of 3,000 yak and cow nipples. Elsewhere in wacky fashion and beauty trends, we've been sticking crazy coloured lip transfers on our lips, intricate paper art on our eyelashes, and snakeskin on our fingernails... Read on for the weird and wonderful trends 2011 had to offer.
THE WILDEST FASHION TRENDS OF 2011
YAK NIPPLE DRESS: Designer Rachel Friere sparked controversy when she unveiled a dress made from 3,000 yak and cow nipples. Critics called the nipple collection 'sickening and repulsive'
NUDIE FROCK AND URINAL DRESS: Design label The Rodnik Band had the blogosphere a-buzz with these creations crafted entirely from sequins. Not one for the office party...
ADULTS WEARING CARTOON CLOTHING: A Toy Story 3 clothing collection was the result of a collaboration by Hong Kong label Bossini and Pixar. RIGHT: In the ultimate show of devotion, Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka’s wife wears an Angry Birds dress. Our verdict? No one over the age of nine should wear anything printed with eyes, ears or beaks
HAIR NECKLACE: Jeweller Kerry Howley wanted to challenge people's natural aversion to discarded hair. On the head, hair is a source of attraction, she says. Off, it's a source of aversion. Kerry says she wanted to see if she could make discarded hair attractive again Jeweller Kerry Howley wanted to challenge people's natural aversion to discarded hair
FREAKY BIKINIS: Model Kristin Cavallari said this glass bikini cut into her skin when she modelled it for Diesel. No kidding! Elsewhere, the Jwoww of Jersey Shores fame designed a gravity-defying bikini. Nice
SOLAR-POWERED BIKINI: This two-piece will charge up your MP3 or phone as you lie in the sun. Just remember not to dive in with your iPod still attached
CRAZY HEADGEAR: Lady Gaga gets her own section, such is the eccentricity of her hat collection. Headgear was big news in 2011, with everything from pillbox hats to trilbies back in vogue. Gaga is the only one wild enough to wear these creations, however
Drunkest cities 2011, Christmas is over, weary travelers are back home after family visits, and everyone is making plans for this weekend’s conveniently timed New Year’s Eve. So as America’s cities gear up for arguably the biggest party night of the holiday season, which destinations are likely to pop a little more champagne to ring in 2012?
According to The Daily Beast’s annual data-crunching, it seems that residents in two Massachusetts cities may be among the most generous drinkers. Boston and Springfield topped their “America’s Drunkest Cities of 2011” list, which averaged statistics on binge drinking, drinks consumed per month and population data culled from market research firm Experian Simmons and Center for Disease Prevention and Control surveys.
Beantown nabbed the top slot with 15.5 average monthly drinks consumed per person and 20.1% of the population listed as being binge drinkers (the CDC defines binge drinking as when 5 drinks or more are consumed in 2 hours by men and 4 drinks or more consumed in 2 hours by women). Springfield followed closely behind, with 14.6 average monthly drinks consumed per person and 19.5% of the population listed as binge drinkers. Milwaukee, Wisconsin arrived at number 3 (it topped the same list last year), and notable college towns like Austin (7) and San Diego (9) helped round out the top ten.
Curiously, two of the largest, and presumably partygoing cities, New York and Los Angeles, didn’t appear on the list. Even Las Vegas checks in midway at number 14, below that of fellow Nevada city, Reno, at number 4. So the top ten cities, as The Beast writes, may well be those where “every season is drinking season.”
Or maybe not. For Bostonians who aren’t pleased with the “drunkest” city labeling, take heart: earlier this year NewsFeed noted that Boston seemed to be the least drunk metro area, according to Men’s Health research.
600 pound Donna Simpson website. For years, 600-pound Donna Simpson was involved in the "feederism" community - that is - a community of people with a fat fetish. People would pay her $19 per month to watch her eat. One person from Germany sent her credit cards with instructions to order take out. Another from California wired her $200 a week to buy groceries with, and then would call to hear what she bought. Three years ago, Simpson was thrilled to be so heavy, saying in a British newspaper "I love being fat; I wouldn't even mind weighing 1,000 pounds."
However, this 44 year-old mother of two eventually became fed up with it. "I realized that I was their fantasy," she said to MSNBC. "Here I was getting bigger and bigger, and they had their thin wives, with 2 1/2 kids and a picket fence." She decided to get healthy - she moved back to Akron, where she grew up, and began the journey to get healthy. Her website, www.officialdonnasimpson.com, turned away from prerecorded videos of her, and turned into a record of her journey. "I'm not trying to be a size 4," she said. "I'm not trying to be a thin-mint. I just want to be normal and more active."
Simpson told MSNBC that she's struggled with losing weight in the past, so much so, that she even turned to crack cocaine to try to shed the pounds, though it didn't work. "All it did was make me clean my house really, really fast," she said.
She's now on track though. Down 85 pounds, she aims to join a gym and begin walking in a pool soon. Ultimately, she said her goal is to drop 300 pounds, and to be there for her kids.
Some of her viewers are angry that she left, but she said that she has to do what's best for her. "There are plenty of men who will buy you four pizzas and enjoy watching you eat all of them," she wrote on her website, "but what it comes down to is that you become a slave to the food and to your feeder."
She told MSNBC that the people who paid to watch her eat weren't "toothless trolls," but, in fact, often lawyers, accountants or college students who have a specific fetish.
Looking forward, she said that she knows it's a long road ahead, but that she needs to face the challenge. "I have only myself to blame for the position I am currently in, and I must now face the greatest challenge of my life," she said on her website. "In order for the people I love most to have a happy and healthy life, I must regain my emotional and physical well-being."
Meat eating panda video. BEIJING: A camera at a Chinese nature reserve has spied a wild panda eating meat. Pandas spend most of their days eating bamboo.Staff at the Wanglong Nature Reserve in southwest Sichuan province set up the camera after noticing dead animals with chew marks. It was not known if the panda had killed the animals.The Pingwu County forestry bureau says the panda appears to be healthy and strong. Conservation group WWF says only about 1% of a panda's diet is meat or plants that aren't bamboo.
The panda looked like he has been caught out helping himself to a forbidden snack. And perhaps this panda realized he had given away a secret kept under wraps for years as he is captured red-handed tucking into a dead antelope. It was previously thought the creatures were strictly herbivores.
According to the World Wildlife Fund China pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore and will eat meat if available, but adapted a long time ago to a vegetarian diet.
Because of this carnivorous digestive system the panda derives little energy and protein from consumption of bamboo so must eat as much as 14kg a day to stay healthy. It has taken millions of years living in bamboo forests for the panda to improve its ability to digest cellulose from bamboo.
It is unlikely the panda pictured killed the antelope and may have fortuitously stumbled across the animal in the forest.
Teacher student sing strip, Teacher student sing strip. A former Tacoma Community College music instructor will be in court next month to answer charges that he convinced one of his voice students she could reach lower octaves if she took off her clothes or did sex acts while singing.
Kevin Gausepohl, 37, is charged in Tacoma Municipal Court with seven counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer. The charges are misdemeanors.Gausepohl allegedly told a Gig Harbor High School student he was conducting a study on how sexual arousal affects vocal ranges. The girl, 17 at the time, was attending the college as part of the Running Start program.She complied with some of his requests to strip naked or touch herself during private voice lessons at the college, court records show. Other students told investigators Gausepohl approached them about being part of the study, court records show. They declined.Gausepohl resigned in October after college administrators launched an internal investigation into his conduct.The investigation, conducted by a private agency, concluded Gausepohl “more likely than not” violated college policies on sexual harassment and discrimination.In statements to investigators and in his resignation letter, Gausepohl said he did nothing wrong.“…
I do not admit any guilt or liability in the matters currently under investigation,” Gausepohl wrote in his Oct. 14 letter. “In fact, I vehemently deny all of the allegations that have been made against me.”He said he chose to resign rather than fight the allegations because his wife was ill and he needed to devote his energy to her.Gausepohl told outside investigators hired by the college that he was interested in how sexual arousal affects vocal range but had yet to get to the “human participant level,” according to a report produced by the agency.The New Tribune obtained a copy of the report from the college through a public-records request.“Gausepohl explained that those he approached, he did so not necessarily as potential participants, but rather to see if there is an interest in this matter,” the report states.On the advice of his attorney, Gausepohl declined to answer direct questions from the outside investigators about his alleged interactions with the high school student.A colleague of Gausepohl’s interviewed by the investigators said he told the girl about his interest in sexual arousal and vocal range and also what “muscles are involved in the female anatomy to properly breathe and support the entire body,” the report states.She said she used some of the breathing suggestions and saw positive results.The woman told investigators she has known Gausepohl for eight years, and “he always focused on the education and mentorship of his students …,” the report states.“She has nothing but the highest respect for him and hopes he comes back very soon,” it states.
I do not admit any guilt or liability in the matters currently under investigation,” Gausepohl wrote in his Oct. 14 letter. “In fact, I vehemently deny all of the allegations that have been made against me.”He said he chose to resign rather than fight the allegations because his wife was ill and he needed to devote his energy to her.Gausepohl told outside investigators hired by the college that he was interested in how sexual arousal affects vocal range but had yet to get to the “human participant level,” according to a report produced by the agency.The New Tribune obtained a copy of the report from the college through a public-records request.“Gausepohl explained that those he approached, he did so not necessarily as potential participants, but rather to see if there is an interest in this matter,” the report states.On the advice of his attorney,
Gausepohl declined to answer direct questions from the outside investigators about his alleged interactions with the high school student.A colleague of Gausepohl’s interviewed by the investigators said he told the girl about his interest in sexual arousal and vocal range and also what “muscles are involved in the female anatomy to properly breathe and support the entire body,” the report states.She said she used some of the breathing suggestions and saw positive results.The woman told investigators she has known Gausepohl for eight years, and “he always focused on the education and mentorship of his students …,” the report states.“She has nothing but the highest respect for him and hopes he comes back very soon,” it states.
Rhino horns poach gold cocaine.Home to 90 percent of the rhinos in Africa and the largest rhino population in the world, rhino poaching in South Africa has reached record proportions, with 50 percent of rhinos being taken from within Kruger National Park.
Whenever there is a market, someone is willing to provide the goods, even illegally. Touted as a cure for several ailments, rhino horn is in such high demand that its street value "has soared to about $65,000 a kilogram, making it more expensive than gold, platinum and in many cases cocaine," says Reuters UK.
To meet demand says the national park service, a record number of 443 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa in 2011. This shocking statistic stands more starkly when compared to statistics in 2007. In that year, the number of rhinos poached in South Africa was thirteen. In 2008, the number jumped to 83, then 123 by 2009. By 2010, 333 rhinos were killed with a further 443 rhinos losing their lives to poachers this year. Almost 1,000 rhinos in four years. Why the sudden explosion?
Conservationists were befuddled by the increased demand for rhino horn. "We couldn't understand what was happening at first," said Steven Broad of the conservation group, TRAFFIC. "Then we noticed unusual demand from Vietnam," Broad told the UK's Guardian newspaper back in November.
Increased demand it appeared, was fueled by the rumor from a Vietnamese politician who claimed that his cancer had been cured by ingesting powdered rhino horn. Despite no scientific evidence to support his claims, the rumor went viral, raising prices for rhino horn tangibly. It was a death knell for Vietnamese rhinos and in Oct. 2011, conservationists reported that the last known Javan rhino in Vietnam had died. With Vietnam's rhinos extinct a full out assault on South African rhinos commenced in earnest.
Supporting the poachers are international crime syndicates who take advantage of men willing to risk their lives for small rewards. For poachers this pittance appears a huge sum, but it is the syndicates who pocket the big bucks by selling the rhino horns for top dollar via organized crime rings across Asia.
Although efforts in the country have been stepped up to combat the smuggling and selling of rhino horn within Vietnam, law enforcement remains woefully inadequate. In September, Vietnamese officials visited South Africa in an effort to promote cooperation between the two countries on rhino horn smuggling. With three of the five species of rhinoceros critically endangered, South Africa is in a race against the clock to secure the preservation of their own rhinos.
According to Rhino Conservation.org, "illegal rhino horn is highly sought after for use in traditional medicines in China and Vietnam, despite the fact rhino horn has been extensively analyzed and contains no medicinal properties." Of further concern says the organization is the increasing Chinese footprint being left in South Africa which "has placed the demand for rhino horn perilously close to the supply, and [...seen...] a flood of Chinese weapons in the region."
South Africa's rhino isn't the only animal paying with its life to satisfy human demand. TRAFFIC reports that 2011 was "annus horribilis" for African elephants with the most recent case being the discovery of 727 ivory pieces discovered on December 21. Concealed inside a container at the port of Mombasa, Kenya, and destined for Asia, the find was one of several this year pronouncing a sharp rise in ivory trafficking since 2007.
In 2010 large-scales seizures of illegal ivory products numbered six, weighing around 10 tonnes said TRAFFIC. Yet in 2011, "a conservative estimate of the weight of ivory seized in the 13 largest seizures in 2011," they said, "puts the figure at more than 23 tonnes" probably representing "some 2,500 elephants."
The act of poaching is a brutal and inhumane one, with animals often left to bleed to death after having their horns cut off or tusks removed. Poaching does have one commonality, Asia, and its desire for traditional Chinese medicine which drives demand for rhino horns, shark fins, ivory, tiger bones, antelope, buffalo, deer antlers, testicles and os penis of the dog and bear or snake bile, to name just a few. It is because of this demand says the Guardian, that "the Indochinese tiger, Asian elephant, saola, Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and Siamese crocodile are all on the brink of vanishing."
The wants and desires of one continent is costing South Africa in more ways than one. Facing hi-tech and well-funded crime syndicates, even on its protected animal preserves, is costing the lives of animals and those trying to protect them. Dr. Joseph Okori, the World Wildlife Fund's African Rhino Programme coordinator, recently told the Environment News Service, that "in order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good."
Unfortunately this will do little to alleviate demand, and with mainland China's growing economy and population, the fear is that it will continue to climb.
Caviar Russian morgue _ Even people who think caviar is worth dying for might lose their appetite when it's stored in a hospital morgue.
But that's where St. Petersburg police found a huge stash of the delicacy this week -- 385 pounds stored in the refrigerated space where cadavers are kept. A morgue employee and a businessman were arrested after the Wednesday discovery, but police said Friday the matter is still being investigated and it is unclear if the men will be charged. The arrested men said the caviar was to be a treat for hospital employees at a New Year's party. Caviar consists of unfertilized eggs from sturgeon, a widely endangered fish. Amid heavy restrictions on sturgeon fishing, caviar is increasingly produced and sold illegally. In the run-up to New Year's, one of Russia's most lavishly festive holidays, police have made a series of other seizures of caviar. A day after the morgue discovery, St. Petersburg police said they seized an additional 220 pounds intended for illegal sale at local markets. On Friday, the Interfax news agency reported that border guards in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv confiscated 249 cans of caviar worth almost $22,000 that was allegedly being smuggled from Russia to Ukraine. In the far eastern region of Khabarovsk, a vehicle inspection turned up 1,100 pounds of caviar, leading police on a weeklong investigation, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. They raided a village home on Friday and found another 57 pounds. At two different spots along the Amur River basin, police found 47 sturgeon carcasses and 2.5 tons of live sturgeon. Sturgeon fishing in the Amur basin is prohibited.
