UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

Debbie Bird, 41 of Great Britain suffers from any teenager’s worst nightmare – allergy to mobile phones [or even cordless phones], computers and cars; and any other modern technology like microwaves.

Basically, going near anything that emits electromagnetic fields (EMF) would make her develop painful skin rashes – her eyelids would swell to thrice their normal size.

That means no going to any place with Wi-Fi like Starbucks or Coffee Bean.

She’s forced to ensure her home is EMF-free:
(i) walls covered in special carbon paint;
(ii) windows with a protective film;
(iii) sleeping under a silver-plated mosquito net.

She first became aware of her condition when she moved to a place where her neighbours were all using wireless internet connections and cordless phones.

Her plight is so rare that in the UK, officially electro-sensitivity (ES) is not recognised as a medical condition. There’s even a debate going on whether it is really a disease or merely psychosomatic.

On another note, if an obese person is allergic to weightloss supplements, wouldn’t that be absolute hell?

Source
The Daily Mail, 22 Mar 2007

Popularity: 1% [?]

Water is an absolute necessity for life, but Michaela Dutton, 21 of the United Kingdom is one of only 30 people worldwide who suffer from aquagenic urticaria, or allergy to water.

Contact with it causes her unbearable pain.

Only one in 230 million humans suffer from it, so rare that most doctors and dermatologists have never even seen a case of it first hand.

That means she cannot go for a swim, or even have a shower, and god forbid, not caught in the rain.

Well, she does have a shower once a week – for a few seconds only.

And no, not even water from something as impossible to control as sweating – angry red rashes would appear.

Drinking water or fruit juice? Impossible – her throat would blister and become swollen. Luckily, she found out that she could tolerate Diet Coke. If not, she would surely die of thirst.

Doctors believe the condition started when she gave birth to her son Mitchell in 2005, which caused a “hormonal imbalance.”

Tragically, she can’t even hold her son unless fully clothed because if any of his sweat or dribble touches her, it spells burning pain.

Her condition means there’s a very limited number of jobs she could take up.

And there’s no cure, at least not at the moment.

Another person who suffers from the same condition is Ashleigh Morris, 20 of Australia who’s been in the situation since the age of 14.

Everytime she gets wet, it would take 2 hours for the red lumps to ease.

Even intimate moments with her boyfriend are complicated – they have to sleep with a sheet between them.

The condition developed after an acute case of tonsillitis. A heavy dose of penicillin prescribed to her solved the tonsillitis issue but the new, worse problem appeared soon after.

Her dermatologist said the penicillin had altered her body’s histamine levels.

For pimply teenagers, only one allergy could be worse than that: allergy to acne treatments! Aaargh!!!

Source
Daily Mirror, 21 April 2009

The Daily Mail, 29 Feb 2008

Popularity: 1% [?]

The world’s strangest place to get hitched is probably the cemetery, but how about the Alor Setar, Malaysia wedding of Pang Choon Sim, 25, a mechanic and Kee Wooi Nee, 22.

The couple, in full wedding gear and seated in a fully decorated wedding car, had it pulled by a tow truck from the bride’s house to the groom’s house 2km away.

Not that the car had broken down, but Pang said he always dreamt of a wedding “different from others.” Different it was, with other motorists stopping in their tracks, like being entranced by a “cheap sale” sign.

I hope any bed wedges they use are of the more conventional variety.

As expected from conservative Malaysian families, his family was against the idea at first, but with his fiancee supporting him, they relented.

Source
The Star, 22nd July 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

I used to hear this sung everywhere when I was a kid.

Song title: Shanghai Beach (???)
Melody and arrangement: Joseph Koo Ka-Fai (b. 1933)
Lyrics: James “Uncle Jim” Wong Jim (1940 – 2004)
Original vocalist: Frances Yip

Theme song for Hong Kong period drama The Bund which had its original run in 1980 for 25 episodes.

That’s almost 30 years ago: you might even need to use pressure washers on those VHS tapes to remove all that grime and dust before replaying them.

In 1996, for the film Shanghai Grand, this song was covered by Hong Kong Heavenly King Andy Lau.

Lyrics and translation.

Frances Yip’s studio version:

An Andy Lau version:

Popularity: 2% [?]

Michael Jackson, 50 was slated to perform 50 sold out concerts to more than a million people at London’s O2 arena from 13th July 2009 to 6th March 2010, supposedy his final concerts before retirement. That would work out to be 2 or 3 concerts a week.

He rehearsed at Staples Center, Los Angeles.

The following video of a rehearsal was taken 23rd June 2009, 2 days before his death. It was first released by CNN on 2nd July 2009.

Song: They Don’t Care About Us.

If they do decide to release the full video, the sales figures are surely going to puncture the roof, even any outdoor furniture used in the rehearsals would be snapped up in no time!

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 22nd November 2009

The rhinestone-encrusted glove was sold at an auction in New York for USD350,000, 9 times the expected price. It was bought by Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma at Hard Rock Cafe on 21st November 2009 on behalf of a hotel in Macau, China where it will be displayed.

Source

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It happened on 25th March 1983, during the Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today, Forever television special.

Michael Jackson, then 24 years old, performed “Billie Jean” and chose that event to introduce to the world his signature dance move – the moonwalk – which has since been copied innumerable times since.

That event was seen by 47 million viewers during its first broadcast.

Starts 1:23:

What an astonishing display of dancing at the highest level, it should inspire the overweight to consider looking for the best weight loss supplements in order to look good trying out those nifty moves.

This move has since become ubiquitous and even mandatory – fans would expect it to be performed by him at every single concert anywhere – and would unquestionably roar their approval, even if it was performed for only a few seconds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

On 15th November 2006 at the World Music Awards in London, Michael Jackson gave his final public performance, when he performed We Are The World with a choir of 50 children to an audience of 5,000.

His performance came after collecting the Diamond Award for having sold more than 100 million albums, the past winner of which included Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi.

The awards ceremony was televised to 160 countries.

Popularity: 1% [?]

You won’t be able to find bottled water for sale in Bundanoon, New South Wales, Australia.

The rural town with a population of 2,500 has decided to ban the sale of bottled water because of its impact on the environment.

It could be the first community in the world to do so.

In a public meeting in the town hall to vote on it, at least 350 voted for it and only two voted against, one a resident, and another a representative from the bottled water industry.

If New Jersey ever decides to implement this, then less junk for the NJ junk removal company.

Still, locals have promised not to “punish” visitors ignoring the ban, but they will be advised to put used bottles in a reusable container.

Source
The BBC, 8 July 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Apparently, as of 1st July 2009, 12 fans of Michael Jackson have committed suicide.

Compare that to:

When John Lennon died, at least one fan, Colleen Costello, committed suicide.

When Elvis Presley died, “some” fans killed themselves. Does anyone know how many?

When Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana frontman died in 1994, at least one fan killed himself.

When Hide of top Japanese band X-Japan committed suicide on 2nd May 1998, 3 fans died in copycat suicides.

When Arsenal lost the 2009 Champions League tie to Manchester United on 6th May, Gunners fan Seuleiman Alphonso Omondi of Kenya killed himself while wearing an Arsenal shirt.

At least one fan of Japan’s national football team killed himself over its failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Paula Abdul’s fan, Paula Goodspeed, 30 killed herself in 2008.

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