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Officials in Brazil's biggest city took legal action to ban a radio contest to find the schoolboy or girl with the biggest bum. A court in Sao Paulo declared the Biggest Ass in School competition illegal. The radio station had invited pupils to take pictures of their classmates' - and even teachers' - posteriors and send them in with a cash prize for the person who snapped the biggest backside. But a judge banned the competition - and threatened to take the station off the air if it did not stop broadcasting ads for it. (Source: Ananova.com)
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Comedian Mike Loader has put Dunedin's iceberg up for sale on Trade Me. His sales pitch reads: "In good condition. Some small stains should come out. About 100 by 300 metres. Could be bigger under-neath. Most are. Got from Ronne ice shelf about six years ago. Girlfriend doesn't like it and needs to go. Buyer to pick up." Very funny, and the questions which follow run with the joke ... One bidder says: "I am looking for something along these lines for a Christmas decoration. Do you have it in the shape of a reindeer?" Another asks: "You say there is more underneath. If it comes closer to shore and touches the seabed, will I own it or will Maori own it?"
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Sean Connery turned down the largest pay cheque in cinema history when he declined an offer to play Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, reports the Scotsman newspaper. If the actor had put on the long white beard and clasped the wizard's staff as the hero of Middle Earth, he would have earned as much as £225 million (nearly $650 million). Peter Jackson has revealed that production company New Line Cinema offered the Scottish actor between 10 and 15 per cent of worldwide box office takings to secure his participation. Sir Sean said no because he did not understand the complicated plot.
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Email turns 35: IT programmer Ray Tomlinson sent the first message in late 1971. He says: "The test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them. Most likely the first message was QWERTYUIOP or something similar." (Source: The Sun)
