Postmodernists eat your heart out

August 29, 2011 at 5:02 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Postmodernist architects design very scrappy buildings. But could they make a building like the one in the picture above?

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THE NEWS

Odd news from around the world

Zimbabwe’s male politicians to be circumcised: “ZIMBABWE’S male ministers will all undergo circumcision as part of a campaign to prevent the spread of HIV, the deputy prime minister has been quoted as saying. Research indicates male circumcisions can help prevent infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. According to Thokozani Khupe, quoted in the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper yesterday, all men in the 150-member parliament and all male councillors in urban and rural councils should also undergo the minor operation. “All the ministers should go for the exercise if our aims of reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS are to be translated into reality. As leaders in government, we should lead by example,” she said. Zimbabwe is one of 13 countries in East and Southern Africa participating in a $US2.5 billion ($2.4 billion) program to circumcise 38 million men – 80 per cent of the male population under 49 years old – over the next 15 years.

Japanese firm orders 2,700 staff to get the same ‘energy saving’ haircut… so they don’t have to spend as long blow-drying: “A Japanese company has ordered all 2,700 of its employees to get identical hairstyles – to help save energy. Tokyo-based Maeda Corporation announced the move as part of a national campaign to reduce energy consumption in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March. Men are expected to sport a short back-and-sides, slightly longer on the top, while women have been asked to wear a ‘cute’ bob with a fringe that can be swept to one side. Chizuru Inoue, a spokesman for Maeda Corp, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Our company is very keen on protecting the environment and we encourage our staff to adopt many environment-friendly actions. ‘We are not sure of the data yet, but we believe if people have short hair they do not need to use their hair driers for so long and they will use less water.”

Brother and sister SUE their mother after she bought the ‘wrong’ birthday card and refused them toys: “Kimberly Garrity, who raised Steven II, now 23, and Kathryn, now 20, in a $1.5million home in Illinois, was sued by her own children. But the siblings, represented by three lawyers including their father, Steven A. Miner, have failed in their $50,000 lawsuit for ‘bad mothering’. They alleged Garrity failed to take Kathryn to a car show and threatened Steven II with phoning police if he did not buckle his seatbelt. The children claim she ‘haggled’ over dress prices and called at midnight to tell Kathryn to come home from a party, reported the Chicago Tribune. But after two years of battle an appeals court has dismissed the ‘emotional distress’ case, ruling Garrity’s conduct was not ‘extreme or outrageous’. The birthday card in question was labelled ‘inappropriate’ by Steven II as it allegedly failed to include any money.”

Big cabbage: “Residents of a care home will have a near lifetime’s supply of vegetable soup with this cabbage. Great-grandfather Tony Southall, 74, grew the monstrous vegetable which was on display at his allotments open day in Dudley, West Midlands. A visitor on Saturday guessed the Cornish Giant cabbage, which has a diameter of 5ft, weighed 25lb. He was only 2oz out and won a bottle of whisky. The cabbage was later donated to be eaten by residents of a care home. And Tony is set to unveil an even bigger one next month at the Amblecote Royal British Legion but he won’t reveal the weight because there will be prizes for guessing. He revealed the secret of growing the massive vegetable was liquid comfrey. ‘It’s a herb and it smells like rotting vegetation,’ he said.”

Couple bought ‘priceless’ Van Gogh portrait for £1,500 at auction: “A British couple may have unearthed a long-lost portrait of Vincent Van Gogh after buying it off the internet for just £1,500. The pastel drawing is believed to be the only full-length portrait of the genius artist in existence and could be worth millions if authenticated. It is thought to have been painted by a female artist who lived next door to him during his time in Paris. The picture was simply described on an auction website as ‘portrait of a man’, but after extensive research, Michael and Mandy Cruickshank believe the work – painted in the 1880s – is of the legendary Dutch impressionist. The couple, from Louth in Lincolnshire, became suspicious by the artist’s crumpled hat, similar to one he sketched, and they believed it is the artist in the prime of his artistic career. A detailed examination by facial recognition experts at the University of Dundee gave the work a four out of six on the chances of it being Van Gogh.”

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