Olympus BioScapes Competition Winners

© Gist Croft and Mackenzie Weygandt, Columbia University and Project ALS, New York, N.Y.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) motor neurons. The stem cells used to generate these motor neurons were induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells made from the skin cells of an 83-year-old ALS patient.

This image won tenth prize in the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Comptition, an international competition of microscope imagery. The winners were announced November 18, 2009. This year, the competition received nearly 2,000 entries from 62 countries. All images and the names of the top winners and Honorable Mentions may be viewed online, and some of images will be part of a traveling exhibition.

A selection of winning images follows.

© Haruka Fujimaki, Bryant Pond, Maine

Atlantic salmon embryos. Ninth prize.

© Heiti Paves, Tallinn, Estonia

Flower of Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress), a popular model organism in plant biology and genetics. Image captured using confocal microscopy using a 20x objective lens. Eighth prize.

© Albert Pan, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Sensory axons (long, slender nerve fibers) covering the tail of a 3-day-old larval zebrafish. This is a “Brainbow” image made using confocal microscopy. In the Brainbow technique, cells randomly choose combinations of red, yellow and cyan fluorescent proteins, so that they each glow a particular color. This provides a way to distinguish neighboring cells of the nervous system and follow their pathways. Seventh prize.

© Alvaro Migotto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Tentacle of Portuguese Man o’ War, Physalia physalis, magnified 30x. Notorious for its painful, powerful sting, the Portuguese Man o’ War has a gas-filled floating chamber that supports the tentacles, which bear sting cells. Shown are the pink batteries of stinging cells and a delicate muscular band responsible for the high contractibility of the tentacles. Sixth prize.

© David Domozych, Department of Biology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Unicellular alga Penium, treated with the microtubule poison oryzalin. Fifth prize.

© Charles Krebs, Issaquah, Wash.

Fresh water algae Haematococcus pluvialis, 100x. Phase contrast microscopy. Fourth prize.

(Third prize went to a time-lapse video of algae cells by Jeremy Pickett-Heaps of the University of Melbourne, Australia.)

© Chung-Ju Rachel Wang, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Nucleus of a plant cell showing synaptonemal complex, a ladder-like protein structure that forms between pairing chromosomes
during meiosis (the cell division required for reproduction). This may be the first-ever high-resolution 3D image of this complex
ever captured with light microscopy. The two parallel axes of this complex, which run the length of each chromosome, are seen as two threads spaced 100-200 nm apart and twisting around each other in a helix. Second prize.

© Jan Michels, Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, Germany.

Water flea Daphnia atkinsoni. This specimen has a “crown of thorns,” a defensive trait induced in offspring only when the parents sense chemical cues released by one of their main predators, the tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis. The water flea’s exoskeleton (exterior structure, green) and subcellular details within the organism (nuclei – tiny blue dots) are both visible. First prize.

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Is Sleep Apnea a Common Disorder?

I did not understand why my brother was constantly tired and had no energy!

His wife was the first to suspect Sleep Apnea. After being diagnosed with this condition and getting treatment, there was a dramatic change in his ability to function during the day.

Melatonix Sleep Aid

What we did not know was that Sleep Apnea is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood.

Understanding More About Sleep Apnea:

Sleep Apnea is characterized by a complete or partial blocking of the upper airway, causing the person to have irregular breathing or to stop breathing for a span of approximately 10 to 20 seconds while asleep. This pattern continues several times throughout the night,usually without the person even knowing it.

While Apnea is much less prevalent than common Snoring, the medical implications associated with this disorder can be serious. As breathing becomes very shallow or stops, there is a drop in the blood oxygen level and a rise in the blood carbon dioxide level. When sufferers do not get the amount of oxygen needed this can put the person at serious health risk.

With poor quality sleep, this condition is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness which can lead to other health complications.

Interesting Facts About Sleep Apnea:

There are two main types of Sleep Apnea; Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Central Sleep Apnea (CSA).

One out of 25 middle-aged men and one out of 50 middle-aged women have Sleep Apnea; and, it is one of the most prevalent of the breathing disorders of sleep.

People with Sleep Apnea are often less aware of their fatigue and sleepiness than are people with other types of sleep disturbances.

Help for Sleep Apnea Patients:

Sleeping on your side is a first step. Sleeping on your back allows your soft palate and uvula to relax into the back of your throat which obstructs your breathing pathways. By sleeping on your side, or in a prone position, you relieve some of the pressure put on your airways, allowing air to flow more freely, simultaneously reducing the volume of your snoring.

Sufferers are actually lucky that this is a vocal condition. As in my brother’s case, is often discovered by a concerned family member. The sooner it is discovered and treated the better, before it becomes life threatening. Sleep Apnea is a very serious condition and needs immediate attention from a Healthcare Professional who can properly diagnose and offer treatment options.

SleepWell Herbal XANAX

The good news is there are Natural Sleep Solutions available to help regain control of Snoring, Sleep Apnea Symptoms and other Generalized Sleep Disorders.

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Mass Bikini Parade in South Africa

On the streets of the capital of South Africa was a large-scale parade, which was attended by more than a thousand girls in bikinis. According to the organizers, this action may be entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular bikini parade in history. In addition to the desire to beat the world record, organizers moved the action and more pressing problem – the desire to draw public attention to the issue of breast cancer.

During the most massive bikini parade, which took place in Johannesburg on November 7, hundreds of girls in red bikini passed through the central streets of an African capital.

The action was attended by ladies of various ages and colors. The main condition for participating in the parade was the presence of a red bikini (though admitted and girls in bikini other colors) and the absence of complexes.

Participants were 1,690 shares of meters on Melrose Boulevard in Ark Iohanesburge, which shielded specifically for the parade.

The action was staged to draw attention to the issue of breast cancer. According to statistics, in South Africa is suffering from this disease every thirty women.

Organizers called on residents of the country at least once every six months examined in Mammologist: early diagnosis increases the chances of a cure for this disease.

We all came here to sing of femininity, beauty, body, and to help in the fight against dangerous disease“, – said Sarah Mansfield, a representative of the organizers.

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How To Behave On A Date

Benefit for men, how to behave on a first date.

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Extreme Pumpkin Water Vessels Regatta

Taking the love of the orange legume to a whole new level, madcap competitors took to the challenge of transforming colossal-sized pumpkins into hollowed out sea-worthy vessels to paddle across the waters at Lake Pisiquid’s annual Pumpkin Regatta.

Thousands of people lined the waterfronts to cheer on racers competing with painted pumpkins in the waters for a chance to score some cash at the 10th annual regatta in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

Pumpkin carving takes on new meaning when confronted with the conquest of gutting out giant pumpkins to race in — some as large as 500 pounds.

Undaunted by the quirky quest, Anthony Cook, the nephew of last year’s champion, Leo Swinamer, decorated his pumpkin as a soccer ball.

Leo Swinamer was forced out of this year’s race because his pumpkin sank during tests.

This one’s for Uncle Leo!” Anthony yelled to the crowds as he hit the waters, leading the way to win the paddlers pumpkin competition with a time of 10:56.

Chip “Pumpkin Head” Peterson placed 2nd with a time of 11:24, and John Allan, racing in a Batman themed pumpkin, finished 3rd with a time of 12:26.

Dani Rippey finished 1st place in the motorized pumpkin race.

Cook said he’ll be back to defend his title next year if he can get his hands on a good pumpkin.

You need a pumpkin that cuts through the water good — that’s the key.” he said.

Leo Swinamer of New Ross, Nova Scotia has dominated previous competitions, winning 6 out of the 10 races held, winning his most recent race at the age of 73.

Regatta committee spokesperson VanEssa Roberts said she will contact the Guinness World Records to have them attend next year.

Our event is not only the first pumpkin regatta ever held in the world, but it is also the largest.” she said.

The Windsor Pumpkin Regatta annual water race is held every year in October. The course is a half-mile from start to finish, featuring brightly colored giant pumpkins as the sole means of flotation.

There are 3 classes — motor, experimental and paddling — the latter being best known and most popular in terms of entries.

Founded in 1999 by Danny Dill — son of Howard Dill, breeder of the Atlantic Giant pumpkin — the race’s popularity continues to grow, with 10,000 spectators and 50 entries in the 2008 race.

The race gained a degree of notability in 2005 when Martha Stewart announced her intention to participate. While her pastel-colored pumpkin did appear in the race, she was unable participate as permission to enter Canada was delayed after her release from incarceration in the ImClone affair.

But Windsor was not the first to feature a giant pumpkin as a waterborne craft — that distinction goes to Wayne Hackney of Winchester, New Hampshire, who paddled in a pumpkin he grew in 1996. The regatta has inspired several other pumpkin regattas, including one at the University of Wisconsin-Madison held since 2005, and on Lake Champlain in Colchester, Vermont.

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Ten Non-Medical Tips For Eaing Depression

When a biological and chemical imbalance threatens the feelings, thoughts, moods, physical well-being, and behaviors of an individual, depression is often the result.

While some people believe that depression is easy to “get over” or view it as a weakness, it is actually a medical disorder that cannot be helped. While stress is a leading cause of depression, there are many other factors that contribute to the occurrence of this common condition, which can become a recurring, chronic, or temporary problem. In the worst cases, ongoing treatment is sometimes the answer. Canadian generic viagra helps patients with erectile dysfunction feel superheroes in bed.

To explore non-medicating approaches towards easing depression, consider the following tips listed below:

  • Keep Family and Friends Close

That pleasant face or familiar words of family and friends deliver the kind of support that can pull individuals out of the depths of depression. It is often the positive conversations and genuine reassurances that become the powerful influences that can ease the symptoms of depression.

  • Enjoy Nature

The color of nature is known to provide the calming relief that someone battling depression can use as an instant pick-me-up. The different shades of green in the grass and blue in the sky are soothing. The scent of fresh flowers is serene. The peaceful chirping of birds and the babble of the brook also help to ease depression.

  • Music

Just as the sounds of nature are relaxing, music also has the capacity to calm the nerves and ease a gloomy disposition. It is suggested to listen to your favorite genre, kick up your heels to a catchy tune, or enter deep contemplation with a bit of classical.

  • Exercise

Routine exercise can transform the chemistry of your brain by increasing the level of serotonin, which often produces a sense of well-being. Some people join team sports, participate in aerobic activity, or walk around the block.

  • Massage

The endorphin rush associated with exercise is also experienced when having a massage, which eases strained muscles and promotes relaxation.

  • Hot Baths

In order to ease the tension that occurs in the muscles when depression strikes, it is suggested to soak in a hot bath and let the steam transport you to a different mindset. In order to make the most out of this experience, it is suggested to embrace aromatherapy and use scented oils to provide additional stimulation.

  • Write

For those who need to get a few things off of their chest, a personal conversation can take place with the help of a journal. Writing down your innermost feelings is quite therapeutic and relaxing.

  • Read

When depression has a stronghold on your mood, allow a good book to carry you away to a world where your outside pressures seem distant.

  • Laugh

Laughter is a good way to not only heal a gloomy disposition, but also uplift the spirit. Call up a funny friend, pop in a comedy, or watch your favorite sitcom to encourage a moment set aside for unwinding.

  • Join a Support Group

Some people benefit from surrounding themselves around those suffering the same symptoms of depression, as they are able to use one another to reduce the sense of solitude that usually comes with trying to overcome a personal obstacle. This is also a great approach towards receiving convenient information on ways to cope with the condition.

Canadian Paxil

Overall, when depression begins to take over your life, it is quite necessary to seek professional help (like a therapist), which can help ease chronic depression, as this condition does not go away on its own.

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World’s Most Unique and Historic Restaurants

Are you searching for a one-of-a-kind dining experience? Travel around the world and try these restaurants!

A restaurant is an important establishment and integral part of our lives most especially to working people because it prepares and serves food and drink to busy people like me. You can dine-in, dine-out or avail of its food delivery services.

Burj al Alam: Future World’s Highest Restaurant

Once the Burj Al Alam or World Tower open in 2012, it will contain the highest restaurant in the world. This 108 story with a height of 510 meters is a hyperboloid under construction in Dubai, UAE. The building will also contain 74 floors of office space, a retail area at the base, and a high-end hotel and serviced apartments in the top 27 floors. A luxury 5-star hotel section is to contain the highest hotel rooms in the world. The building will also feature a 6-storey crown that will contain a Turkish bath, sky garden, and other club facilities.

Damascus Gate Restaurant: World’s Largest Restaurant

When you visit Damascus, the capital of Syria and one of the world’s oldest cities, don’t miss dining at the largest restaurant in the world – the Damascus gate Restaurant. This huge restaurant can accommodate 6,014 costumers and employs a workforce of 1,800 people. This restaurant that opened in 2006 is called Bawabet Dimashq in Arabic. It has a 54,000 sq-m dining area and 2,500 sq-m kitchen.

El Bulli: The Best Restaurant in the World

It will be a great honor to eat in a restaurant which is regarded as the best in the world like El Bulli. This pride of Catalonia in Spain has been described as “the most imaginative generator of haute cuisine on the planet” and does a great deal of work on molecular gastronomy. It was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine a record five times – in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. It also won the Michelin star 3 times – 1976, 1984 and 1996. The El Bulli was established in 1961. The average cost of a meal is 250 euro.

Aragawa Restaurant: World’s Most Expensive Restaurant

Shinbashi district, where Aragawa Restaurant is located, is situated in central Tokyo – directly adjacent to Shiodome.

Only the rich can afford to eat in this restaurant located in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district. The cost of a dinner for one in this restaurant is a whooping $368… only!!! This steak house is famous for its beef and in fact, steak is the only food it serves. It has its own farm and serves its steaks with pepper and mustard only. As they say, the beef is very expensive but very delicious.

The Fat Duck: The Best Restaurant that Serves Unusual Dishes in the World

Are you looking for a restaurant that offers peculiar foods? Try The Far Duck restaurant in the UK. This restaurant is known for its menu of unusual dishes like snail porridge, sardine on toast sorbet, bacon and egg ice cream and salmon poached with liquorices. It was established in 1995 and had won the Michelin star 3 times and it was named as the world’s best restaurant by Restaurant magazine in 2005 and Best Restaurant in the UK in 2008 and 2009.

Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House: World’s Oldest Restaurant

Be part of of this restaurant’s history, dine at Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House located in Kaifeng, China. It is by some accounts the world’s oldest restaurant. It had been operational since 1153 and has survived numerous wars, invasions, and dynasty changes but still offers takeout food. As the name implies, this restaurant specialized in bucket chicken.

Sobrino de Botín: Recognized World’s Oldest Restaurant by Guinness World Records

Since there are no sufficient documents to prove that the Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House is the oldest restaurant in the world, the official title was given by Guinness Book Records to Sobrino de Botín. This restaurant is located in Calle de los Cuchilleros 17, 28005 in Madrid, Spain. It was established in 1725 and recognized as the world’s oldest eatery. Part of the restaurant’s folklore has it that a young Francisco Goya worked there as a waiter whilst he was waiting to get a place at Madrid’s. Specialty of the Sobrino is cochinillo asado or roast suckling pig. Other signature dishes include sopa de ajo, an egg, poached in chicken broth, and laced with sherry and garlic, and the favorite pick-me-up with Madrileño revelers.

Tour d’Argent: One of the Oldest and Historic Restaurant in Europe

Another historic restaurant that will surely provide a unique and unforgettable dining experience is La Tour d’Argent. It is located in the most visited city in the world – Paris in France. It is said to have been in operation since 1582. This 400 year-old restaurant is said to be one of the favorites of Henry IV. It specialized in pressed duck and has its own farm on which it raises its ducks.

Dining in this restaurant is truly memorable because a diner who orders a duck receives a postcard with the serial number of the duck. The restaurant also has a wine cellar containing more than half a million bottles of wine, costing many millions of dollars. This restaurant is also known as The Silver Tower or Tower of Money.

Ye Olde Union Oyster House: Oldest Restaurant in the US

If you live in the US or will visit the country dine at the oldest restaurant in the New World – Ye Olde Union Oyster House. It is located in Boston, Massachusetts and has been open to diners since 1826. Famous diners of this historic oyster house were the Kennedy-s (President John F. Kennedy’s favorite booth at Union Oyster House is marked with a plaque.), Daniel Webster, King Philippe of France and Rose Carey, America’s first waitress. The restaurant offers seafood, poultry, baked beans, steak and chops.

Stiftskeller St Peter: Oldest Restaurant in Europe

The authenticity of Stiftskeller St. Peter as the oldest restaurant in Europe is yet to be proven. It is claimed to be Central Europe’s oldest inn because of a document mentioning it in 803. If this will be authenticated, it will be the oldest, not only in Europe, but in the world. This historic restaurant is located within the monastery walls of St. Peter’s Archabbey in Salzburg, Austria.

Le Grand Vefour: Paris’ First Grand Restaurant

Paris is famous for Lovre, Eiffel, Triumphal Arch, fashion, palaces and Le Grand Vefour – its first grand restaurant. It was opened in the arcades of the Palais-Royal in 1784. Famous diners include long list of immortal heavyweights of French culture and politics. It was closed from 1905 to 1947 and re-opened in 1948 to continue its tradition of gastronomy at the same location, “a history-infused citadel of classic French cuisine”.

360 Restaurant: World’s Highest and Largest Revolving Restaurant

The CN Tower in Canada is the most remarkable landmark of Toronto in Ontario. It was once the tallest free-standing structure in the world. This famous tower contains the world’s highest and largest revolving restaurant at a height of 351 meters or 1151 feet.

Piz Gloria Restaurant: World’s First Revolving Restaurant

Dining in a revolving restaurant will surely be a unique experience and one of the best is – Piz Gloria. It is located in Schiltron, Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. The Piz Gloria restaurant, which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding area, claims to be the first revolving restaurant in the world is atop of the Schilthorn over Murren at 2,970 meters or 9,744 feet.

The creation of Piz Gloria restaurant originated in the Ian Fleming James Bond novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963). It features a James Bond exhibition (memorabilia and film clips) in the lower floor.

Metro-Alpin Restaurant: World’s Highest Revolving Restaurant

Metro-Alpin Restaurant in Switzerland at 3,456 meters or 11,483 feet at the top of the Saas-Fee lift system is regarded as the highest revolving restaurant in the world. Saas-Fee, where the restaurant is located, is the main village in the Saastal or the Saas Valley and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais.

Sirocco: World’s Largest Open-Air Restaurant

Aren’t you afraid of height? Do you enjoy watching panoramic views from high places while having your dinner? If you say yes, then Sirocco, the world’s largest all open-air restaurant and Sky Bar, is the right place for you. The restaurant’s main feature is a spectacular 270° panorama of the Chao Phraya River and Bangkok City. Mediterranean foods are the specialty of this restaurant.

This restaurant is located on the 64th floor of the State Tower in Bangkok, Thailand. This building is the largest in Southeast Asia and the second tallest in Thailand.

More restaurants in the sky

Skylon Tower

Experience dining in the sky at the Skylon Tower located in Niagara Falls, Ontario in Canada while watching the breathtaking views of the American Falls in New York and the Horseshoe Falls in Ontario. Skylon Tower has two revolving restaurants that can accommodate 276 people and revolves once every hour.

Cairo Tower

The Cairo Tower in Egypt is another place where you can dine while watching the scenic views of the city. It is one of Cairo’s most famous and well-known landmarks. A single rotation of the tower’s rotating restaurant takes approximately 70 minutes.

Encounter Restaurant: A One-of-A-Kind Restaurant

This space style restaurant is located at Los Angeles International Airport in LA California in the United States of America.

This uniquely-shaped restaurant serves good but affordable food. Dine at night, and you’ll see the floodlit arches change color every few minutes.

Banyan Treehouse Café: Unique Restaurant

This unique restaurant is located in Onyama Park in Okinawa, Japan. This one’s not actually a restaurant on top of a tree. It is actually a replica of a giant Banyan tree or Gajamaru tree. The tree is made of concrete and built as a restaurant. This eatery serves Asian foods. Customers ascend via a lift inside the trunk. The restaurant has a spiral staircase fire escape at the side.

Yellow Treehouse Restaurant: Unique Restaurant

Well, this one’s real. It is a real restaurant built 40 feet up the trunk of a real giant Redwood tree by Yellow Pages. This unique restaurant which can accommodate 18 customers is located near Auckland in New Zealand.

Ithaa: Underwater Restaurant

Looking for the most unusual dining experience? How about dining underneath the sea? Ithaa is the right place for you. Ithaa is the world’s first underwater restaurant located 5 meters below sea level at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa in Maldives.

It was constructed in Singapore and was brought to Maldives in 2005. This peculiar restaurant can accommodate 14 costumers. The cost of meal ranges from US$120.00 to US$250.00. This unique undersea restaurant’s estimated life span is 20 years.

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Wally and Hermes Yacht Concept

Hermes International SCA, the French maker of Birkin handbags, unveiled a real-size model of a 38-meter-wide yacht on Tuesday. This is Hermes first time making it’s way into the luxury vessel business.

Hermes teamed up on the project with Monaco-based ship- builder Wall to create an immaculate yacht. The model of the vessel, whose width is almost two-thirds of its 58 meter (190 foot) length, was presented in Ancona, Italy.

Nicknamed WHY 58×38, the yacht features a 25-meter interior swimming pool, three decks and a 36-meter “beach” along the back, which will also be the ship’s widest part. Solar panels covering the roof and sides of the vessel will help save at least 200 tons of diesel fuel a year, Hermes said.

Space is the biggest luxury at sea, and I believe that the next big thing will be taking the time to appreciate that,” Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the artistic director of Hermes, said in the press release. The Dumas family is the majority owner of Hermes.

It will be the first yacht for Hermes, better known for its $4,000 Birkin handbags and printed silk scarves. The company previously helped design a luxury helicopter and a collection of smart cars, a company spokeswoman said.

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Wackiest Musical Videos

1. Elektronik-Supersonik – Zladko Zlad

Zladko “Zlad!” Vladcik is a fictional character created by Australian comedian Santo Cilauro and is the unofficial mascot of Molvania. Over time, he has become a kind of Internet phenomenon. He is notorious on the Internet for the novelty pop song and music video “Elektronik Supersonik” which, according to Zlad!, “is a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric.” “Elektronik Supersonik” is itself a kitschy, over-the-top combination of Electro, Synth Pop, and Europop. Zlad! is featured in a mullet, bushy moustache, and silver spacesuit. His lyrics are often in spoken word or badly sung, not to mention full of hilarious grammatical errors, reversed semantic units, and meta-references to thick Slavic accents.

2. I Wanna Love You Tender – Armi & Danny

This 80’s Finnish music video called “I Wanna Love You Tender” by Armi & Danny is widely known as the worst music video of all time and is an Internet phenomenon. The choreography of this video was particularly noteworthy. While it was apparently intended to be “erotic and tantalizing”, it principally succeeded in the eyes of many for being hilarious.

3.  Come on Back – F.U.S.B.I.

You may be wondering why you haven’t heard of F.U.S.B.I. A surprise Internet meme, it has popped up in the last few days, centered around calling the video for F.U.S.B.I.’s (a band that is seemingly un-Googleable) “Come On Back” the worst music video of all time. The video tells the story of a chick who drops a 20 dollar bill in an airport… but I won’t give the end away, you will need to check it yourself.

4. Boots of Chinese Plastic – The China Dolls

What is so funny about this video? Four elderly Asian women in plastic Chinese boots, rocking hard in an audition for the Pretenders. It all started when a guy heard about a music video contest sponsored by The Pretenders, You Tube and PETA, for people to lipsynch to The Pretenders’ new song, “Boots in Chinese Plastic.” So he bought four pairs of Chinese plastic boots from Wal-Mart and directed a video starring his mom and her friends. The result is the wackiest rock video ever.

5. Tarzan Boy – Baltimora

Any song that uses Tarzan’s cry as the melodic line is nothing but outrageous. Tarzan Boy was a huge one-hit wonder for Italian electro-pop dance group Baltimora, in 1985. Sung by frontman Jimmy McShane, it also comes with one of the worst music videos ever created. The song deals with living in the jungle just like Tarzan Boy, and about “monkey business on a sunny afternoon.” The lyrics are certainly some of the worst ever written, however, it is Tarzan’s cry that makes this song so memorable and so loved by many of us. We should really hang our heads in shame.

6. Apache – Tommy Seebach

In pop culture, Apache is a well-known, often-covered instrumental track written by English songwriter Jerry Jordan. On YouTube, “Apache” also refers to the Danish singer Tommy Seebach’s 1976 rendition of the original composition. The music video—featuring Seebach and his band having a good time with a group of tribal-clothed babes—first came to the spotlight at the Fantasia Film Festival in 2006, when DJ XL5 dubbed Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up over the original M/V footage. The dub was a success and soon enough, remixes and dubbed renditions of Apache music video took on a life of its own on YouTube. (Thanks to our readers who sent us the tip).

7. Aiin! – Mini Moni

This band apparently managed to have a number 1 single in Japan. The only explanation is that the video contains some kind of hypnotic suggestion. Mini Moni is a subgroup of J-pop girl group Morning Musume. They were one of Morning Musume’s most popular subgroups for their entire existence, because of the combination of their outrageous music videos and live performances, their vocal harmonies, and their widely varied musical styles. To be a part of this group, members had to be 150 cm in height or shorter.

8. The average homeboy – Blazin Hazen

Also known as “the average homeboy” and “Denny Blaze”. Blazin Hazen is a rapper – a whack one it might be added, but a rapper nonetheless – who has released a number of albums including “Hot to Trot”, “Bam Boom” and “Blazin”. He has reinforced the stereotype that (almost all) white men cannot rap. His rap comes off as a joke, yet nobody can say for certain whether the Average Homeboy is for real. Hazen claims that “Once you hear my demo you’ll just be BLAZED”. Luckily for him, the meaning of blazed is ambiguous.

9. Losing you – Jan Terri

Whether riding in a limo or on the back of a hog, this 1993 music video by Jan Terri is nothing less than craptastic. What makes this one great is that she is dead serious. She is a blend of Mrs. Piggy, Jabba The Hut and William Hung.

10. Nowiy god – Steklovata

This band is called Steklovata, and they are from Estonia, but they speak and sing in Russian. They are part of that “orphan-band” movement, which still sometimes emerges in small province cities. But the feature that turned them into a meme is their name. Steklovata in Russian means “glass wool”. As you see, there’s nothing sweet and glossy in that title. Moreover, they have a song which goes under the same title. The lyrics in translation are something like that: It’s all your own fault, you’re thorny like glass wool, glass wool, glass wool, our love turned to be evil, ’cause you’re like glass wool’.

Somehow these guys are a big hit in Russia.

11. Cameltoe – Fannypack

Moving on up to the year 2003, when a group pf kids from Brooklyn would start to change the world by singing about how to wear clothes on your vagina. A mutlicultural troup, Cat is Irish, Jessibel is half-Puerto Rican and half-Thai, and Belinda is half African-American and West Indian. Ok, maybe the graphics on the video aren’t really bad, but it’s a song about cameltoes, so it had to be in our list.

12. Dare To Be Stupid – Al Yankovic

This list wouldn’t be complete without a video from “Weird Al” Yankovic. Dare to Be Stupid is the third album recorded by him, released in 1985. The song and video are a parody of Devo, bearing closest musical resemblance to Devo’s “Big Mess”. It describes many stupid things a person can do, such as “Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan.” Several figures of speech are referenced, too. It is one of Al’s most reknowned original songs. It was also used in The Transformers: The Movie, as the theme song for the Junkions.

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Oktoberfest München 2009

It’s all about the beer…

Among the many attractions, the “liquid gold” is probably the most important thing at the Oktoberfest. As usual, over 6 million liters of beer will be drunk this year.

Price:

A “Mass”, one litre of beer, will cost between 8,30 € and 8,60 € this year.

Serving times:

Beer will be sold in the tents from 10.00 to 22.30 on weekdays and from 9.00 to 22.30 on saturdays, sundays and holidays.


Where to get which beer:

  • Augustiner: Augustiner-Festhalle, Fischer-Vroni
  • Paulaner: Armbrustschützenzelt, Winzerer Fähndl, Käfer’s Wies’n Schänke
  • Spaten-Franziskaner: Hippodrom, Schottenhammel, Ochsenbraterei/Spatenbräu-Festhalle
  • Löwenbräu: Schützen-Festzelt, Löwenbräu-Festhalle
  • Hacker-Pschorr: Hacker-Festzelt, Bräurosl
  • Hofbräu: Hofbräu Festzelt

The Bavarian Purity Requirements:

It’s no coincidence, that Bavaria has the best beer in the world: Since the 16th century there have been strong regulations about brewing beer and how to keep up the high quality of the final product by choosing the ingredients very carefully. One of the oldest laws concerning food and drink are the Bavarian Purity Requirements, decreed by Duke William IV. in 1516: Only water, hops and barley should be used to brew Bavarian beer.

Beer Tokens

Mostly companies hand out beer tokens (”Biermarken” in German) to their guests, which can then be exchanged for beer in the respective tents. If you want to buy beer tokens, please contact the tent-owners directly.

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