oregon man survives 12 nails to the head

33-year-old meth user attempted suicide using nail gun, doctors say

PORTLAND, Ore. -- An Oregon man who went to a hospital complaining of a headache was found to have 12 nails embedded in his skull from a suicide attempt with a nail gun, doctors say.

Surgeons removed the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill, and the man survived with no serious lasting effects, according to a report on the medical oddity in the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The unidentified 33-year-old man was suicidal and high on methamphetamine last year when he fired the nails—up to 2 inches in length—into his head one by one.

The nails were not visible when doctors first examined the man in the emergency room of an unidentified Oregon hospital a day later. Doctors were surprised when X-rays revealed six nails clustered between his right eye and ear, two below his right ear and four on the left side of his head.

The study did not say how long the nails were, and a hospital spokeswoman refused to release that information. A photo published in the study suggests the nails range from 1½ to 2 inches long.

No one before is known to have survived after intentionally firing so many foreign objects into the head, according to the report, written by Dr. G. Alexander West, the neurosurgeon who oversaw the treatment of the patient.

The man at first told doctors he had had a nail gun accident, but later admitted it was a suicide attempt.

The nails came close to major blood vessels and the brain stem but did not pierce them. The patient was in remarkably good condition when he was transferred to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where the nails were removed.

The patient was later transferred to psychiatric care and stayed under court order for nearly a month before leaving against doctors’ orders. -- msnbc.com

Perhaps this dude's survival wasn't affected by the nails because his brains were so fried from all the ice in the first place! ;Þ

chinese women busting out of small bras

As diet gets fattier, bustlines expand as well as waistlines

BEIJING -- Bra producers have been forced to offer bigger cup-sizes in China because increased calorie consumption is busting all previous chest measurement records.

“It’s so different from the past when most young women would wear A- or B-cup bras,” Triumph brand saleswoman Zhang Jing told the Shanghai Daily from the Landmark Plaza of China’s commercial hub.

“You...never expect those thin women to have such nice figures if they are not plastic.”

The report, appearing on the daily's Web site, said that the Hong Kong-based lingerie firm Embry Group no longer produces A-cups for larger chest circumferences and has increased production of C-, D- and E-cup bras to meet
pressing demand.

The Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology released a report last week saying the average chest circumference of Chinese women has risen by nearly 1 cm (0.4 inch) to 83.53 cm (32.89 inches) since the early 1990s, the daily said.

This phenomenon, it said, was due to women eating more calories and taking part in more sports.

Similar growth in the average height of children prompted a rethink last year in Beijing on the height allowance for free bus rides. -- msnbc.com

Hrmmm, interesting...

an uninspiring tale

I’m tired.

So very tired.

I wake up in the mornings, hoping to feel refreshed, but instead I feel exhausted. Sluggish. Lacklustre.

It’s been like this for the past God-knows-how-long. Got too much on my mind. Too much on my plate.

Before, at least I’d have futsal to take it out on. Now, though, futsal seems to be slipping away slowly. It’s just not the same anymore. Maybe it’s the environ around me. Maybe it’s me.

But the ultimate thing that’s bogging me down is definitely work. It’s been brainstorm after brainstorm, day after day. I thought I came here to write. Man, how wrong was I.

Can you imagine sitting around and squeezing your brain’s juices for a minimum of 5 hours every day on top of the daily chores?

It’s absolutely mind-numbing, absolutely draining.

I’m tired.

So very tired...

princess or pickpocket?

I’ve never really been a fan of Tom Cruise's nor Katie Holmes's. I mean, I don’t not like them, but I don’t like them, either... you know what I mean. But the current hoo-ha on them, I simply can't resist.

Now, so everyone knows that Tom Cruise+Katie Holmes’s baby was born this week. Christened as Suri Cruise, the world wonders about this apparently unique choice of name.

Earlier reports say that Daddy Tom cited the clever double meaning behind “Suri”—“red rose” in Persian, as well as "princess" in Hebrew (the name’s supposed origin)—as the reason behind their choice.

Aww, how sweet, right?

Wrong!

It seems Hebrew speakers across the globe are raising their eyebrows at Cruise. They say that “Suri” has only two meanings: (1) A Syrian, and (2) a manner of shooing a female!

It gets worse:

"Hebrew expert Jonathan Went says, 'I think it's fair to say they have made a mistake here. There are variations of the way the Hebrew name for princess is spelt but I have never seen it this way.' Suri can also be translated into a Hindi boy's name, and it also means "pointy nose" in some Indian dialects and "pickpocket" in Japanese." -- theSuperficial.com

Oh me, oh my. I wonder how Mr Mission Impossible is gonna get himself and his family out of this mess...

ain't technologically handicapped no mo', yo

Checkit:

Got me a brand-new celly
One that’s oh-so funky
Oh-so funky like me!
;Þ
Many call it the “twister,” as the keypad does an impressive twisting action to switch from phone to (2 megapixel) camera mode.

Twist a further 90˚ and the snazzy Nokia 3250 transforms into a music player, complete with play/pause, stop, forward and rewind buttons. One which comes with a 512MB MicroSD card, which means that my new phone is also my new mp3 player that can hold over 300 high-quality tunes (or circa 750 songs if I upgrade to a 1GB MicroSD).

Love the looks (surprise, surprise: though it comes in pink, green and silver, me who loves colour settled for the sleek all-black; go figure). Love the sound (music+phone=two of the most important stuff in my life). Love the brand (my motto: it's Nokia or nothing, hah!).

Could be less bulky, though…

Oh well. Can’t have everything, right?

More about the Nokia 3250 here.