True and Untrue Urban Legends

A woman on a flight from Scandinavia to the United States had to be pried free by a rescue team after a high-pressure vacuum flush sealed her to the toilet seat of a Boeing 767.
At least that was the story in mid January, when it was featured in dozens of newspapers, Web sites, and TV reports. According to Reuters, the unnamed woman had filed a complaint with Scandinavian Airlines System.
"She could not get up by herself and had to sit on the toilet until the flight had landed so that ground technicians could help her get loose," an airline spokeswoman said. "She was stuck there for quite a long time."
Only days later, the story turned out to be untrue. The airline claimed it mixed up a fictional exercise from staff training with the real thing. No woman ever filed such a complaint.
But the "Sky Toilet" story won't die that easily. It's likely to live on as an urban legend that will haunt gullible air travelers for years to come — just like the tale of the tourist who was drugged by organ thieves and woke up with both kidneys missing. Great story. Never happened.
But many urban legends are true — or at least "based on a true story," as they say in Hollywood.
Here's a bone chilling story that's undeniably true: On the day that American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in New York, both of New Jersey's winning Pick 3 lottery combinations included the numbers 5, 8, and 7. The morning drawing was 5-7-8. The later drawing was 5-8-7.
"Urban legends are not the same thing as fictional tales," says Barbara Mikkelson of Agoura Hills, Calif., who runs www.snopes.com, one of the leading Web site that investigates urban legends.
"A story becomes a legend when it is circulated widely and regarded as the truth. Whether they actually occurred or not is irrelevent."
Some classic legends are completely false (The brassiere was invented by Otto Titzlinger). Others have a basis in fact (Coca-Cola once contained cocaine). And the stories change with the time. Snapple was once said to be owned by the KKK, now it is rumored to be run by Osama bin Laden.

Christmas Amazing Facts

The Top 50 Amazing-but-True Holiday Facts

• In the village where the original Saint Nicholas was born, children celebrate Christmas by giving gifts to old men with long white beards.
• Children whose families celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas have a 97 percent higher chance of getting socks as a gift.
• The yule log was originally a symbol of good digestion following an overlarge Christmas feast.
• The Japanese term for Christmas, Kurisumasu Omedeto, can also be loosely translated as "Morning of the Greedy Children."
• On December 23, 1775, as Ben Franklin staggered out of the Continental Congress Christmas Party on the arm of colonial party girl Patience Rutledge, a furious Mrs. Franklin hurled a fruitcake at him, striking the Liberty Bell
• The sugar rush of a fruitcake is canceled out by its alcohol content.
• For the past decade, the Spanish-speaking Santa at the Del Amo mall in Torrance, CA, has been played by Erik Estrada.
• Resurrected by Budweiser in the 20th century, the phrase "Wassup!" comes from a Christmas drinking game from the Middle Ages in which players chugged hot wassail. The first to vomit -- or "wass-up" -- woul
• Next year, Mars, Inc. will debut special M&M versions for Purim and Yom Kippur.
• The dogs barking "Jingle Bells" on the novelty record were not dogs at all, but parrots, which can mimic dogs and are easier to train.
• Jesus was actually born on January 1, but Joseph and Mary moved the date back a week to get a government-approved tax deduction.
• As part of top-secret "Operation Bagdhad Bells," the Bush administration actually considered sending Salvation Army troops into Iraq.
• The first-ever Hanukkah latke recipe featured turnips, rhubarb and kale. These proved so unpopular that many different vegetables were substituted until the current potato version prevailed.
• In certain parts of the world, eggnog is used as a sexual lubricant.
• In Latvia, indoor Christmas trees were originally fake. Real trees started being used in 1923 when the factory making the fake ones burned down.
• During the early 1970s, the Hasbro company attempted to build a "North Pole" toy factory at Point Barrow, Alaska. Construction was halted when feasibility studies predicted labor shortages.
• In freshly-fallen snow, reindeer hoof prints are indisguishable from those of the common Missouri white-tailed deer.
• In some parts of Scandinavia where evergreens are legally protected, people still follow a tradition of making Christmas trees from potted poison ivy plants tended indoors. The locals say that along with gifts, Kris Kringle b
• Most serious drummers consider "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum" a distastefully pedestrian riff.
• "It's a Wonderful Life" was original a detective story written for star Humphrey Bogart -- and in the story, whenever a bell rang an angel got cement shoes.
• The literal translation of "Chanukah" from ancient Hebrew into English means, "Buy seven, get the eighth one free."
• After the Three Wise Men left, Joseph bartered the gold and frankincense for more practical gifts: a camel-ready infant seat and three hours of babysitting. He kept the myrrh because of its well-known ability to heal swaddlin
• Studies show that neighbors tend to complain about wattage-sucking, multimedia outdoor decorations because they're *jealous*.
• On the eighth day of Christmas, Jesus was circumcised.
• The oil in the Temple menorah lasted twice as long as now thought, but the information was suppressed by parents who couldn't afford 16 nights of Chanukah presents.
• The most popular eggnog in Russia is not made from chicken eggs, but from caviar.
• Every year between Christmas Day and New Year's day, there is a 2-for-1 sale on caribou patties at the Anchorage Deli.
• The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe originated in Germany in the 18th century when a person who was deathly allergic to mistletoe came in contact it and had to be revived by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
• Balthasar, the third King of Orient, was gay.
• Absurd as it seems, behavioral scientists claim kids don't want expensive toys -- what they REALLY want is just to be loved.
• Beginning in 2001, the White House Christmas tree decorations have included a novelty ornament given to President Bush by Dick Cheney: A silver-plated election ballot with a hanging chad.
• Holiday fruitcake began as a prank made from carefully reshaped reindeer droppings.
• The Egyptians celebrated a holiday they called "Chrystmus" over 1700 years before the birth of Christ.
• The primary causes of death during the holidays are heart attacks and suicide caused by the arrival of credit-card bills.
• According to the Department of Homeland Security's 2007 strategic plan, 2006 will be the last year youngsters can sit on a mall Santa's lap without first passing through a metal detector.
• Properly prepared, figgy pudding is a potent aphrodisiac.
• The average height of a Christmas tree (5' 4") is exactly the same as the distance between Jesus's hands on the cross.
• For years, the U.S. Postal Service has secretly answered letters addressed to Santa Claus. Due to outsourcing of the Holiday Mail division to Mumbai, such letters are now more likely to get positive responses if they are writ
• Studies show that while toddlers love Christmas tree lights, they prefer Christmas tree *fires*.
• "Black Friday" originated as a ritual of purchasing highly prized whimsical curios for unconverted village urchins and then burning them together at the stake.
• Tinsel is an excellent garnish for chicken or veal.
• Red and green became official Christmas colors in 1939, when it was recognized that red marked-down price tags brought in green cash during the shopping season.
• "Extreme-Ultra-Orthodox" Jews have only six non-holidays a year.
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was banned from the airwaves and bookstores from 1950-1956 because of its implied support for Communism.
• Pope Gregory moved Christmas from its original day, March 17, at the request of Irish bishops and barley farmers who were promoting a new holiday to commemorate Saint Patrick.
• Eggnog was created after its predecessors beefnog, hamnog and troutnog failed miserably.
• The reason you almost never see purple Christmas lights is that Saint Nicholas, the prototype for Santa Clause, believed purple was satanic. He even threatened to have any of his parishioners who wore purple excommunicated.
• Reindeer feces have been known to burn holes in roof shingles.
• For nine years following the 1843 publication of "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer was the most popular boys' name in Great Britain.
• If you pour sourmash whiskey on a pine wreath purchased at Wal-Mart anytime between 1998 and 2002 and set it aflame, it gives off the scent of warm apple cider.

World's Youngest Yoga Teacher World Record set by Shruti Pandey India

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At just six, Shruti Pandey is the youngest yoga trainer in the world.

The bendy youngster has been teaching adults at an ashram, in northern India, for the last two years.

Her trainer, Hari Chetan, 67, set up the ashram 35 years ago and as soon as little Shruti became one of his students, as a tiny four-year old, he spotted her talents.

Now she starts her classes at 5.30am every morning, at Brahmanand Saraswati Dham, in the Jhunsi town, dressed in white leggings and a red t-shirt surrounded by 30 eager pupils ranging from businessmen, teachers, housewives to pensioners.

Shruti said: 'It feels good when people follow my instructions, I feel like a real teacher.

'I got interested in yoga after seeing my brother do it. I tried picking it up myself but it was too hard. So I asked my parents to send me to yoga classes.'

Her brother, Harsh Kumar, now 11-years-old, made the Limca Book of Records at the tender age of five by learning all 84 yoga positions - but he's never been interested in being a teacher like his sister.

Hari, who Shruti also calls her grandfather, think she's a miracle.

'She's a fast learner and a perfectionist. She grasps techniques quickly unlike kids her own age, who get bored with something as patience consuming as yoga.

'Within just six months of her training, she surprised everyone by doing the toughest positions with ease and perfection. She's a natural.'

Shruti can manage some of yoga's most challenging positions. She can easily hold her entire body on the strength of her little arms and hang her legs right over her head backwards.

One of Shruti's fans, 90-year-old Swami Bhanu, a retired teacher, said: 'The best thing about Shruti is she tries to provide an alternative position for the complicated ones that are difficult for an older person like me to do. She's very patient.'

Businessman Lokendra Pal Singh, 48, has been attending Shruti's classes for three months and said, 'I have noticed a positive change in my life. I used to be short-tempered, but now I'm able to control my anger to quite an extent and it's all thanks to a little six-year old.'

Paris Hilton's Community Service in High Heels

Paris Hilton's First Day of Community Service

Paris Hilton has started doing her 200 hours of community service. She was pleaded guilty to drug possession and obstructing a police officer in August, and she got 1 year probation that includes community service and enrollment in a substance abuse treatment program. She has also to pay a fine of $2000. You can view the pictures from Paris Hilton's first day of community service. She looks funny doing all the work on high heels!

Bizzare but interesting

Bizzare Facts-Chect it out

1. China has close to 25% of the world's population. 2. Christmas became a national holiday in the US in 1890. 3. Cows sweat through their noses. 4. Deer sleep only 5 minutes a day. 5. Despite a population of well over one billion people, there are only an estimated 250 million televisions in use in China. 6. Dogs can't decipher size. That's why little dogs are mean. 7. Cleveland law forbids you to operate a motor vehicle while sitting in another person's lap. 8. Dave Matthews relocated to the United States to avoid service in the South African Military. 9. Don't even think about having sex while in a moving ambulance in Tremonton, Utah as it is extremely illegal. Of course, a stationary ambulance is another story. 10. Dentists have recommended that toothbrushes be kept at least six feet from toilets to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. 11. Dolphins can look in different directions with each eye. They can sleep with one eye open. 12. Cockroaches break wind every 15 minutes. 13. Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine. 14. Did you know that 85.7% of statistics are made up? 15. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants. 16. During pregnancy, the average woman's uterus expands up to five hundred times its normal size. 17. China was the first country to use paper money. 18. During the average human life, you will consume 70 assorted bugs as well as 10 spiders as you sleep. 19. Did you know that crocodiles never outgrow the pool in which they live? 20. Death Valley, California, has a point that is 280 feet below sea level.

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