Are you really the winner if you fail to survive?

Russian dies after winning vodka-drinking contest
November 20, 2003

A vodka-drinking competition in a southern Russian town ended in tragedy with the winner dead and several runners-up in intensive care.

"The competition lasted 30, perhaps 40 minutes and the winner downed three half-litre bottles. He was taken home by taxi but died within 20 minutes," said Roman Popov, a prosecutor pursuing the case in the town of Volgodonsk.

"Five contestants ended up in intensive care. Those not in hospital turned up the next day, ostensibly for another drink."

Mr Popov said the director of the shop organising this month's contest had been charged with manslaughter. He had offered 10 litres of vodka to the competitor drinking the most in the shortest time.

When I was about 15 my family went on a holiday to Hong Kong among other places. I was on a packed train by myself going somewhere that I now can’t remember due to the scarring experience I am about to share with you. I was sitting down on one of those seats where you have your back to the window. There was an identical seat opposite me which gave plenty of room for people to stand in the middle of the carriage holding onto to those support straps which hang from the ceiling, which seems to be the favoured method over there. Anyway, opposite me sat a rather big Asian man with glasses who was wearing a nice grey suit. He was probably in his 40s and had grey flecks in his dark hair which added to his generally distinguished appearance. Between a gap of the people standing between us we could see each other. As the train began moving I noticed that this guy was staring at me. I was the only non-Asian person on the train and so I thought he was trying to work out where I was from. As I was staring back at him something very strange happened. He started to pick his nose, and I’m not talking about some little scratch of the outer nostril occasionally dipping into the inner sanctum. This guy was in up to his elbow, turning his head side to side as he went, which I can only presume was for greater leverage and accessibility. Occasionally he would examine his finger and wipe the fruits of his labour on his suit pants. What made it even weirder was that he continued to maintain eye contact with me for the entire time he did it! Breaking eye contact I looked around the carriage to see if anyone else noticed the animal like performance I was witnessing. No-one else seemed to care. The people sitting next to him must have seen it but no disgust seemed to register on their face. After several minutes of this guy digging away I began to wonder, how much snot can one person have up their nose, and why wait for the most crowded public moment to get rid of it? Anyway I learnt that day that it is quite intimidating to have someone look you in the eye and pick their nose at the same time.

http://www.theonion.com/3944/news3.html

I wonder if he ever considered just taking it down, or not writing anything else.

I'll stick with anonymity.

I have to admit if its reality T.V, I probably watch it. Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Survivor, Australian Idol, The Mole, The Osbournes, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, For Love or Money, Joe Millionaire or Temptation Island (I like it the least), I watch them all!

They appeal to me because they are unscripted but more importantly, you often get people on the show who really have no concept of how others, including the public, will perceive them. This leads to many amusing moments where the self view of the contestant clashes with how the rest of the contestants see them. That defining moment where the realise they are not who they thought they were is priceless! The cringe factor is high and I love it.
Take Osten from Survivor for example. You can tell he thinks he is “the man”, he looks like he lifts weights for hours everyday but yet he is the biggest nancy boy I have ever seen. He whinges like an 8-year-old girl! He is a massively built man but so often fails, usually because he has zero will power.
Or take Carlo from the most recent series of Australian Big Brother, a man who decided to crouch in a kitchen sink to wash his genitals with the same implements used to wash dinner plates, but still thinks he is every woman’s fantasy. In case you read this Carlo, you are not normal, … not at all.

My most recent Reality TV obsession is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I love it for the same reasons. Some poor sap is confronted with his general lack of style, hygiene and fashion of which he was previously unaware. My favourite moment would have to be the guy who was confronted with his bathtub which was covered with dirt and filth. When asked “Why?”, he responds with “But that’s where the dirt goes!”. I bet he was thinking to himself, “Every man keeps a store of dirt and filth don’t they?”

I’d like to point out the Australian way of developing nicknames for people. There are always exceptions to the rule but the following keeps to a system evolved over many decades.

• If your surname is prefixed by Mc or Mac, for example McMurtrie or MacDonald, then your nickname shall be ‘macca’.
  
• It is always acceptable to add on an “o” or a “y” to someone’s name or a shortened version of their name. E.g Smith becomes Smithy and Dave becomes Davo. Most nicknames are of this nature.
  
• If the second letter of your first name is an “a” then the first two letters can be followed by “zza”. For example Karen becomes Kazza and Barry becomes Bazza.
  
• And finally, if you have red hair your nickname shall be ‘bluey’.
  

The great thing is these rules can be applied to everyone. However, some people do have nicknames because of memorable events that they have been involved in or particular physical attributes they possess. I have a friend who we call VB. Not because he drinks a lot of beer but because his extensive body hair reminds us of Velcro, hence “Velcro Boy”.