My Relax Place

China, with a population of 1.3 billion, the largest in the world, embraces condoms in its fight against AIDS and HIV. Models wear extravagant dresses, wedding gowns, bikinis, and hats made from condoms and sashay through a stage filled with soap bubbles. The Beijing Fashion show sends out the message that condoms of all shapes and sizes are in.

In conservative and repressive China, the problem of AIDS was once ignored as a foreign disease blamed on Western decadence. As China awakens to the enormity and spread of AIDS amongst its general population, it changes its tune. This type of fashion show is usually seen in Paris or New York but Beijing has embraced it with glamour and style. Guili Latex Factory, the largest condom maker in China, organized the show.

Continue reading Condom Craze in Conservative China » » »

It’s a case of distorted and twisted feminism. Women in the northern city of Pamplona are demanding for their own version of the world-famous bull run. But in true contrary style, they are going to run with cows instead of the dangerous and ferocious bulls. The campaign for equality of sorts has been started by a student who dubs it ‘Cows want to run’ in her website. It has somehow gained momentum as the novel and comical idea caught on.

The bulls weigh about 600kg and daredevils have to run along the 800-metre long streets of Pamplona dodging these angry beasts. Women have been allowed to take part in the bull run since some years back though there have been few takers.

Continue reading Cow Run In Spain » » »

While the world grapples with terrorism, poverty, AIDS, disease and famine, a group of Japanese are busy researching ways to reduce the stress level in fish so that they taste better when served on a plate. The tuna is a highly valued delicacy, often eaten raw or lightly cooked. It is a vigorous fish which struggles wildly when caught alive to be prepared by the chef. The more vigorous it struggles, the fresher it is. However, scientists discover that the struggle causes the fish to be stressed, thus reducing its flavour and value.

Continue reading Stressed Tuna in Japan » » »

Fish are leaping out of the water haphazardly in multitudes. But they are not dolphins or flying fish. They are just ordinary fish like mackerel or other pelagic fish. The sight of hundreds of these fish jerking and jumping in the water is a sight to behold. But does it also forebode something more ominous? Why are the fish jumping around madly?

Research carried out by marine biologists shows that there are no large predators in these waters to agitate the fish. There are also no changes in chemical content to stimulate a change of behaviour in these fish. But it is theorised that global warming has led marine parasites such as crustaceae, flatworms, protozoa and bacteria to multiply faster than normal and attack the fish. The fish thus jump about in discomfort and pain, much as a person bitten by wasps would jump about and howl.

Continue reading Jumping Fish in Distress » » »

‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ But what if the name was ‘hell’? A boy was rejected a place in a catholic school in Australia because he was named Max Hell. The boy has Austrian roots and ‘hell’ means ‘bright’ in that culture.

The authorities of St Peter the Apostle school only agreed to enrol the boy after talks among the principal, the parish priest and the family. However, the father, Alex Hell, would rather ask the school to sock it and go to hell. The boy faced discrimination even before he entered school. The father feels that they have been victimised because of their name.

Continue reading The Boy Named Hell » » »

One can sit quietly on a mound and let it grow into a mountain. President Suharto, 86, who ruled Indonesia iron-fisted for 32 years, is facing a civil suit for misappropriation of public funds and the prosecutors are seeking damages totalling more than 1.5 billion. But it is a case of blindness, deafness, and muteness that have descended on the Indonesian people and government for too long. Suharto was forced to step down in 1998 after growing unrest in Indonesian society and has since then lived in luxury in the upscale residence in the suburbs of Menteng, Indonesia. He has been left to enjoy the fruits of his crime until a ripe old age. Meanwhile, millions of Indonesians live in poverty, squalor, illiteracy, and continuous humiliation.

Continue reading Suharto’s Treasure Trove » » »

Miss England 2007, Georgia Horsley is beautiful, sexy, charming, voluptuous, and totally deaf in one ear. When the results were announced, Horsley was rooted to the spot not from surprise but because she didn’t hear her name being called. Horsley admitted that she kept her disability a secret because she was afraid of being taunted and bullied in school. Likewise, she didn’t want people to make fun of her or treat her differently when she grew up.

Continue reading Miss England’s Sexy Secret » » »