Shillong strums its way into Guinness

"1730 guitarist in Shillong strummed into a new world record"

Barely a year after drumming up a record with the largest percussion ensemble, Shillong strummed its way into Guinness World Records by assembling 1,730 guitarists to play the Bob Dylan classic Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door for over five minutes.

The audience roared in approval when police chief B.K. Dey Sawian announced that the Guinness-appointed adjudicator, Lapynshai Syiem, had endorsed the record.

“This is unbelievable. I am proud that my daughter was part of this,” said the father of the youngest of the guitarists, four-year-old Ashly Budnah from Malki.

There were just nine more guitarists in the ensemble than in the American group that held the previous world record. The magic number would have been 1,731 had one entry not been rejected on technical grounds. A source said the adjudicator had doubts about the permanent address of that guitarist.

The previous record was set at the Community America Ballpark in Kansas City on June 3, this year. The 1,721 guitarists who assembled there performed the Deep Purple rock anthem Smoke on the Water.

For Shillong, which has a clutch of bands that perform everything from pop and rock to soul and jazz, the two Guinness records in a year are a reaffirmation of its status as the hub of music in this part of the country.

Minister R.G. Lyngdoh, who can strum a few chords himself, was at the stadium to cheer the guitarists. “This is a proud moment for all of us in the Northeast and especially for the people of Shillong,” he said.

But since records are meant to be broken, Shillong’s joy could be short-lived. Musicians in London will attempt a new record for the most number of guitarists playing a song together on November 2.

Indian Captain : Dhoni's new look

A new look MS Dhoni, Captain of Team India arrived back home in Ranchi today(October 24) at the Birsa Munda airport with his trademark flowing locks now turned in for a close cropped look after the recently concluded hectic seven-match cricket series against Australia.Much to the surprise of his fans waiting to greet him, Dhoni's locks have been quite the lucky charm for him ever since he began his international cricketing career and his look of course inspired thousands of youngsters to follow his fashion statement.

Dhoni was whisked away by securitymen from one of the gates at the Birsa Munda airport as a folk troupe which was to greet him was stopped at another.

"The enthusiasm would have been different had Dhoni returned immediately after the Twenty20 championship," said a fan and blamed the 2-4 loss to Australia in the one-day
series for the the low presence of fans.

A few determined enthusiasts, however, shouted 'Dhoni Zindabad' and 'Welcome Dhoni' as their poster boy drove away to his brother-in-law's home. The cricketer did not speak to the media which was present in strength.

Even his trips to the barbershop have often turned into quite a media event. In November 2006, Dhoni was even mobbed in his home town Ranchi when he stepped out for a hair cut. Whenever in Mumbai however Dhoni always makes it a point to get his locks styled by stylist Sapna Bhavnani.

His much copied hairstyle even caught the attention of General Pervez Musharraf, who said that Dhoni looked good with his hair long and hoped that he never cut it. Dhoni of course is back home in Ranchi after a gruelling cricket season and has recently been linked with model and actress Deepika Padukone.

Source: timesnow.tv

World's Largest Liger (Lion+Tiger)

Know what's a Liger? It's a cross breed of a Lion male and Tiger female...

Read on......

The 10ft Liger who's still growing...

He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creation from Hollywood . But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is the largest of all the cat species.

On a typical day he will devour 20lb of meat, usually beef or chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton.

He is the accidental result of two enormous big cats living close together at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in Miami, Florida , and already dwarfs both his arents. "Ligers are not something we planned on having," said institute owner Dr Bhagavan Antle. "We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures and at first we had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl, then loo and behold we had a liger."

50mph runner... Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard of among water-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate. Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions are in Africa and most tigers in Asia . But incredible though he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly before World War II.

Today there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lion mother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical characteristics of the tiger.

Look at the size of the head on this thing.. :o)

It's Awesome, Only In Bangkok

Giant spider looms over art lovers

A giant spider took up residence on the banks of the River Thames in central London overnight, but arachnophobes can relax - it does not bite or even move.

The nine metre high and wide creature is made of bronze, stainless steel and marble and is the creation of renowned artist Louise Bourgeois.

Created in 1999 and named Maman in tribute to the artist's mother, its appearance outside the Tate Modern art gallery is the first time it has been on display outdoors in Britain.

"The spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver," the 95-year-old Bourgeois said in a statement.

"Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother," she added. French-born Bourgeois is regarded by many as one of the most important artists working today.

She has always been at the forefront of new developments in art, exploring her ideas in painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation and performance, using varied media - from wood and stone to latex and rubber.

Bronze casts of Maman are on permanent display at the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao in Spain, the Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, the Mori Art Centre in Tokyo and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

The Tate's Maman is a taster for an exhibition of 200 works by Bourgeois that will open in the gallery on October 10 and run to January 20, 2008.

Source: abc.net.au

Australians set beachside bikini record

More than 1,000 Australian women donned free bikinis on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Wednesday for a group photograph to win a spot in the Guinness World Book of Records.

"This was certainly one of the more spectacular world records that I've been invited to adjudicate on," said Chris Sheedy, a representative for Guinness World Records.

"As an Australian myself, it's logical that any record involving sun, sand and surf should be held in this country."

Bondi lifeguards turned their ocean-front headquarters into a dressing room to allow each woman to change into her bikini.

The skimpy swimwear made its debut in 1946.

Hoping it would be worn by beautiful "bombshells", the designers named it after Bikini Atoll, an atomic bomb test site in the Marshall Islands.

Source: theage.com.au